In 2012 Carla Kogelman, who had previously worked in theatre for twenty-five years, was commissioned by a youth theatre festival in Austria. She ended up in Merkenbrechts, a small village of a hundred and seventy inhabitants, where she met Hannah and Alena, two sisters who spend much of their time together in a carefree life of swimming, playing outdoors and games around the house. She began recording them in powerful black and white, and has continued to do so along with their families, friends and surroundings.

“With Carla we return joyfully to a world where we are never bored, rediscovering the freshness and spontaneity of childhood. She meets the challenge with a poetic balance that avoids any voyeurism or sentimentality.” — jury statement, World Press Photo 2018