Making Work Visible

In November, I took this photograph of Lois an elder mennonite woman, a matriarch of sorts in her community, knitting and stitching a traditional bonnett known as a “kapp.” The picture was part of a broader project of photographing traditional and religious women in various faith communities. The photograph was captured on a 1972 Mamiya RB67 medium format film camera.

While taking the portraits of the mennonite women, Lois was preparing the traditional kapps. One of the young lady’s hair had outgrown her kapp, so Lois started to create a new one. I noticed something very special in the work she was doing, she was creating a very traditional headdress from the simplest materials. A practice done by thousands of women centuries before her, and slowly dissipating except in small rural communities like theirs.

There is something inspiring about this type of labor in our modern times. And as you can tell by Lois’ hands it is truly labor. Her strength and her smile as she finishes the hat demonstrate a beauty that emanates from this traditional manual practice.

Labor need not be men digging away in coal mines or building skyscrapers. Rather, labor is also the years of work Lois has given to her community knitting kapps, sewing traditional dresses, tending to the farm, and teaching children. There is a purity in this traditional work, it is emblematic of societies past that we must not forget, which is why I took this picture, and why I submit it today.