The official catalogue of the exhibition 'Unprecedented: Women Photographers from the GDR', held at The Museum of Modern Art, Hayama. In 1949 Germany was divided into the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany. The women who built careers as photographers in the GDR and produced outstanding bodies of work offer perspectives that have often been overlooked in efforts to reassess the history of German photography: from the late 1970s onward, when photography was recognised as an autonomous art form in both Germanys, they worked across state commissions, magazines and independent projects and circulated their work widely.

The book brings together documentary, street, fashion, portrait and conceptual photography, reflecting a dual focus on depicting the GDR in all its complexity and exploring the possibilities of the medium. It presents fifteen women photographers, drawn largely from the Sven Herrmann Collection, renowned for its vintage prints and presented by Stiftung Reinbeckhallen: Tina Bara, Christine Becker, Sibylle Bergemann, Christiane Eisler, Margit Emmrich, Eva Mahn, Ute Mahler, Elisabeth Meinke, Helga Paris, Evelyn Richter, Gundula Schulze Eldowy, Maria Sewcz, Gabriele Stötzer, Brigitte Voigt and Renate Zeun. Two curatorial essays by the exhibition's curators are included.