Since November 2023, I have been accompanying Regina, one of the last caretakers in a Viennese municipal building, who continues to live there after her retirement and acts as a contact person for the tenants. In 2000, the right-wing government decided to cut janitor jobs and replace them by cleaning companies. Fascinated by the fictional character Mrs Koziber from the TV-series ‘Kaisermühlen Blues’, I ex­perienced life in the council estate through Regina‘s eyes. During the time I spent with her and Gerri, I discovered the motifs of her photos (a pet cemetery, a bird diary, bathtub decorations) and the loving connection between her professional and private life. Regina showed herself to be caring and com­mitted in both contexts. In the end, I portrayed her as a person and not just as a janitor and found a new family as well as moving stories of community and humanity.

Beatrice Signorello (*1993, Rome, IT) completed her mathematics studies in Rome and earned her doctorate in the same field in Vienna. She graduated from Friedl Kubelka School for artistic photography in Vienna in 2023 and has been studying at the University of Applied Arts Vienna in Maria Ziegelböck’s class since 2023. She began her photographic work with street photography and has since developed her interest towards storytelling and portrait photography.