In Germany, butchery is still a male- dominated line of work, not least for the physical strength the job requires. Ulrike is one of the youngest female butchers in Germany. She initially wanted to be a police woman, but was 2cm too short for the job. Her second choice was the profession her father and grandfather had already held before her. These images were taken in the butchery school where she trains young butchers in the making. I spend a lot of time watching her work and train young butchers, mostly male, mostly with little other job perspectives. During this time, what initially started out as a quest to explore the position of women in butchery is transforming into a more wider question on how manual professions such as butchery will change in the future, and how the work ethos and striving for “glamorous“ jobs and status has changed the interest in butchery as a serious profession.
commended at the Sony World Photography Awards 2018, category Portrait.