Careful Approach

"This picture was taken in October of 2022, on the very first day of our Dar Esperanza project in Cusco, Peru. Hence the image was named: Careful Approach.

In this project we are presenting the lives of young mothers and their children at Casa Mantay, a facility in the city. This place offers a temporary home to underage women, practically all of whom are victims of abuse. The young women are well cared for. Above all, value is placed on their education and training, with the hope that they can lead a self-determined life when they leave the facility at age 18. It was through a good friend who has lived in Cusco for many years and supports the facility, that we got this unique opportunity to contribute our talents – communication in my wife's case, and photography in mine – in order to draw attention to the extraordinary work being done there.

The stories of these young mothers were extremely stirring. One of them was merely 14 years old, and already had a 3-year-old daughter on her lap when we talked with her. These intimate portraits were taken on the last day of our project, and will be exhibited at the Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg, among other places. Capturing such vulnerable moments was only possible, because we spent a lot of time there, during which we were able to build trust – and also because we were there as a couple. We were particularly moved by the truly forward-thinking approach in what is being done for these young mothers and their children, and everything in an atmosphere full of warmth, that gives the women courage to accept their fate and move toward a self-determined future.

I took quite a bit of equipment with me for this project, but in the end almost all the shots were taken with a Leica SL2, because it is uncomplicated, versatile and fast – exactly what was needed for this work."