Ute Mahler | The Same Sky

Ute Mahler began working in fashion photography in 1975, right after graduating from the HGB Leipzig—even though fashion photography was only of casual interest to her at the time. She was primarily interested in people and their faces, which is perhaps why, when looking at her photos, one always notices the face first and the clothes second. Taken out of the context of a magazine spread or an advertisement, many of her photographs could easily be read as part of a documentary project. The subjects always seem to be caught entirely by chance the moment Ute Mahler presses the shutter—that is the exceptional quality of her images: staging women (and sometimes men) and fashion effortlessly, just as in real life. This book finally presents the photographs that made the long-time Sibylle photographer famous. Journalist and author Annett Gröschner, who admired Ute Mahler’s work from a young age, contributes a personal essay describing how she came to know and love Ute Mahler and her pictures. Texts by Ute Mahler and Johanna Eckhardt describe the biographical, historical, and cultural backgrounds that have influenced the photographer and her work to this day. They also chronicle her career path, the history of Sibylle magazine, and the editorial team’s self-image, which is beautifully reflected in Mahler’s photography. “Fashion photography gave me the opportunity to stage ideas and dreams, and to articulate the image of women and men that I had in my mind. Plus, it served as a parallel counterweight to documentary photography, where I didn’t stage anything.”