Kitchenwork

The photographer Jan Sobottka is usually best known for his restless activity that has led him to document Berlin’s art scene for over a decade. Thus, it is a bit surprising that with his new book Kitchework he presents a sensitive body of work that tells in striking pictures the stories of women that either are still curiously searching for their own position in life or have already been marked by their past experiences. Also quite uncommon – its location: in his small kitchen far away from Berlin’s art scene in Berlin-Mitte, he asks women to join him at his table: and they take up that invitation with pleasure, presenting themselves, opening themselves to him. Eroticism plays an unsubstantial role, since the women want to recognize themselves in his pictures. Quite contrary to the usual results of this genre, the photographer manages to catch this in his shots. The stories of these women accompany the pictures in short, concise little narrations.

Text in English and German.