Harvesting sea salt on the Maltese island of Gozo.
Salt harvesting takes place during the summer months. The salt pans are filled with sea water by a mechanical pump. After few days (between 5 to 7 days) the water evaporates and salt starts to crystallise in the form of flakes that floats on the water surface.
The harvester sweeps the salt crystals from the pans with the aid of a broom and gather the salt into small piles. Afterwards he fills the buckets with salt and transfer them to the drying pans.
Once the salt is completely dry, then it’s packed in sacks which are then carried into a truck, transported and stored into a garage.
Finally, the salt is transferred into small plastic bags while it gets monitored for unwanted material.
I’ve always wanted to photograph this ancient trade, however, I’ve never been lucky to see it in real life. Last summer while I was on a short trip around the island of Gozo, I found one of the sea salt harvesters. After I had a little chat with him I managed to photograph this harvesting process by drone.