WOMEN AT WORK

Frauen bei der Arbeit by Helga Paris
Weiss PublicationsFebruary 2022Selected by Claire de Rouen

A self-taught photography great, Helga Paris needs no introduction. If one was required, however, the photographs collected in this book would be a good place to start. Shot at a state-owned, Berlin-based clothing factory over several weeks in 1984, the images of women at work are exemplars of the photographer’s distinct, documentary approach and her commitment to capturing something of the actuality of real people. Allowing her protagonists to gaze back at us, and offering glimpses of the factory environment, Paris invites us to reconstruct their personal and collective histories, reinforcing her maxim that “every face is an experience”. – Lilly Markaki