Colombia, two hours from Barranquilla.
Here inside an intensive breeding for caimans.
An operator performs the cuts on the skin of a caiman just shot down. This delicate process takes place in several steps. The alligators are killed by a cut on her neck made by hand with a knife, the killing is done by a specific operator, responsible only to this task.
The Price of Vanity
Spain www.paolomarchetti.org
“Little is known about the business of animal skins destined to grace the high fashion market, the sacrifice hidden behind the ruthless values expressed by high fashion, and its cultural trend dominated by remorseless standards of beauty. The first three chapters of this longterm project were taken in Colombia, Poland and Thailand, looking at the intensive breeding of crocodiles, minks, and ostriches. I then looked at lucrative tannery activities, completing my report at Italian fashion week. This project is not against breeders but dedicated to all of us, common citizens: we must know the story of what we buy – we have been perpetrating for decades the extermination of animal species destined to be on the luxury market – and we have to stop exercising only our right of blind buyers.” Paolo Marchetti
Paolo Marchetti is an award and grant winning independent photographer based in Rome, Italy. He has worked for thirteen years in the cinematographic and commercial industry, covering each role in the Camera Department.
His projects are regularly published in international magazines such as Vanity Fair, Sunday Times, British Journal of Photojournalism, The Guardian, Le Monde, Geo, Days Japan, Der Spiegel, CNN, New York Times, National Geographic US and many others.
Marchetti has been recognised nine consecutive times in the NPPA Picture of the Year, three of which in the prestigious category Photographer of the Year and in 2016 Marchetti won first prize. Other awards include most recently in 2015 the World Press Photo.
Marchetti is represented by Getty Images.