Olga Steinepreis's 'My Mother Doesn't Work' Challenges Invisibility of Domestic Labor

Photographer Olga Steinepreis, based in Freigericht, Germany, and originally from Novorossysk (former USSR), created the project 'My Mother Doesn't Work' after her son remarked that his mother does not have a 'real job' because she stays home. The series uses intimate, narrative self-portraits where Steinepreis's face is often hidden, emphasizing how her presence and labor are taken for granted. The work critiques the perception of caregiving and housework as natural, instinctive, and economically valueless—'not a real job.' Through a poetic yet direct visual language, Steinepreis renders visible what society tends to ignore. The project has gained international attention and recognition from publications such as It's Nice That and Dodho Magazine. The photographs depict repetitive gestures and inhabited spaces where the female figure merges with the environment, almost disappearing. Steinepreis explores family dynamics, women's social roles, and motherhood, capturing ambiguity, fatigue, and hidden beauty. The home becomes an emotional battlefield where a mother's identity is both defined and dissolved, with photography serving as a tool of resistance and affirmation.