From the series “Sláma, the tailor”, 1976–1981
Gelatin silver print on baryta paper, sistan-treated, 2014
signed

Iren Stehli has made a name for herself with her photographic essays from the Czech Republic. These include, for instance, a touching long-term study on a Roma woman by the name of Libuna. Alongside this ‘life’s work’, Stehli has realised many other projects with a convincing mixture of fascination and sympathy. 

 

This picture is from a work about a tailor called Sláma, whom the photographer met on a walk in Prague. Stehli’s photographic language is all about the inner mood and the empathic portrait. Even in her narrative projects, an important role is played by quiet introspective photographs: images in which the photographer pursues the poetry of everyday life.