How does he do it? And he can still manage a smile!
Around the world spices are a normal part of everyday cooking, and in many parts of the world, Ethiopia included, a very hot and spicy red chili powder is as common as the salt that is found on the kitchen tables throughout America.
Walking into one spice grinding operation, the unmistakable scent of red chili’s led me into a small dark room whose air was filled with so much chili dust that not only did my eyes begin to tear up and burn, but the interior of my now sniffling and burning nose, felt to be the perfect place for a fire drill!
And yet, despite a working environment that would claim many victims, a lone young man was feeding hundreds of red chili’s into the grinding machines and he appeared to react as if the resulting chili powder was no more lethal than the welcomed scent of baby powder!
I on the other hand, continued with my near death experience, but just long enough to ask the young man to pose for a photo, covered of course in all of his red chili glory!
This room was extremely dark I might add, and as a result, I found myself using an ISO of 6400, and thus the somewhat grainy image.
Once outside in the fresh hot summer like air, I found a bottle of water and soon my throat was clear, my nose was no longer running and the tearing of my eyes had stopped.
How does he do it? My translator said he grinds for 8-10 hours each day! Needless to say I met another person in my world travels whose daily existence is beyond admirable. He’ll keep grinding, and I’ll keep shooting. – Bryan Peterson
Nikon D500, Nikkor 18-300mm, F/7.1 @ 1/40 sec. 6400ISO.
Around the world spices are a normal part of everyday cooking, and in many parts of the world, Ethiopia included, a very hot and spicy red chili powder is as common as the salt that is found on the kitchen tables throughout America.
Walking into one spice grinding operation, the unmistakable scent of red chili’s led me into a small dark room whose air was filled with so much chili dust that not only did my eyes begin to tear up and burn, but the interior of my now sniffling and burning nose, felt to be the perfect place for a fire drill!
And yet, despite a working environment that would claim many victims, a lone young man was feeding hundreds of red chili’s into the grinding machines and he appeared to react as if the resulting chili powder was no more lethal than the welcomed scent of baby powder!
I on the other hand, continued with my near death experience, but just long enough to ask the young man to pose for a photo, covered of course in all of his red chili glory!
This room was extremely dark I might add, and as a result, I found myself using an ISO of 6400, and thus the somewhat grainy image.
Once outside in the fresh hot summer like air, I found a bottle of water and soon my throat was clear, my nose was no longer running and the tearing of my eyes had stopped.
How does he do it? My translator said he grinds for 8-10 hours each day! Needless to say I met another person in my world travels whose daily existence is beyond admirable. He’ll keep grinding, and I’ll keep shooting. – Bryan Peterson
Nikon D500, Nikkor 18-300mm, F/7.1 @ 1/40 sec. 6400ISO.
