Still Lifes 1975-2002

Iren Stehli’s Still Lifes 1975-2002 is a series of photographs that explores interiors, objects, and everyday spaces. While detailed documentation of the series is limited, it reflects Stehli’s conceptual interest in capturing the quiet presence of spaces and objects. Her work emphasizes form, light, texture, and composition, transforming ordinary settings into moments of reflection and observation. The series exemplifies her sensitivity to the details of daily life and her interest in how spaces silently hold memory and meaning.

Born in 1953 in Zürich, Iren Stehli has been engaging with everyday life in the Czech Republic since the early 1970s. She has developed her photographic practice through long-term visual essays, weaving her images into dense narrative fabrics while observing the changing social realities around her. The Swiss photographer regularly travelled to Prague, even during the communist regime, immersing herself in a world both alien and familiar. Her Czech heritage allowed her to navigate the city with ease, and she quickly became attuned to the rhythms of everyday life.

With a mixture of fascination and empathy, Stehli has observed how people live, share joy, and endure hardship. She finds inspiration in seemingly banal or insignificant details - traces, objects, and small gestures - that reveal deeper stories. Whether focusing on interiors, street scenes, or everyday objects, her images capture the vitality and subtle energy of life that often goes unnoticed.

Among her most renowned projects is Libuna, a long-term photographic study begun in 1975. The project started when Stehli met Libuna Siváková, a young Roma woman working as a cleaner in a Prague dormitory. Over nearly three decades, Stehli documented Libuna, her family, and their community, producing thousands of images that record personal milestones, social changes, and the rhythms of domestic life. Libuna exemplifies Stehli’s patient and empathetic approach, allowing her to build trust and create a nuanced portrait of individual and collective experiences.

Stehli’s work spans multiple projects that share a coherent visual and conceptual approach. From her early studies of the tailor Slama, to her long-term exploration of display windows in Prague, to her lyrical still-lifes and the monumental Libuna project, her photography consistently employs a sensitive, often black-and-white idiom. She captures shifting moods, subtle details, and the poetics of everyday life, responding to her subjects with respect and empathy.

Across her career, Stehli balances documentary observation with conceptual rigor. Her photography demonstrates how sustained attention to environments, objects, and everyday life can reveal subtle social histories, personal gestures, and the quiet poetry inherent in ordinary moments. Through careful composition, attention to light and texture, and a patient, empathetic gaze, she transforms commonplace settings into visually and conceptually resonant images, offering viewers an intimate and reflective experience of the world.