Because of strict hygiene regulations and high wages, the peeling of shrimp as a home industry is hardly found in The Netherlands any more. Shrimp from the North Sea are thus peeled in low-wage countries such as Morocco. They return north for the Dutch market via the peeling factories of Tangier.

The photographs are part of the series The Strait: A Record of Northern Ennui (2001), in which the Moroccan/French photographer Yto Barrada (b. 1971) sketches the life without prospects in the northern Moroccan city of Tangier. Daily life there is defined by dreams of crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and obtaining a better future in Europe.

Photos: courtesy Galerie Polaris