Workingman's death : The book

German (English to be published) - 250 pages - 24,90 euros

WORKINGMAN'S DEATH : The book by Michael Glawogger

The book Workingman's Death makes reference to the eponymous film without attempting to be a typical companion-to-the-film book. It was conceived as a photography book for daily use - one you can "stick in your pocket," a book of images to look at and stories to read, a book that lets you see the photos differently through the stories and read the stories differently through the photos.

The stories all revolve around photography, travel, the making of a film, and a particular way of viewing the world. The superordinate theme is work, or to be more precise, the workingman himself.
The movie Workingman's Death visits six different places on several continents and examines the social standing of workers who toil at grueling manual labor jobs in the twenty-first century. In the first half of the previous century the worker was still being stylized into a role model, into the pillar of support in various social systems, even into a hero. Now he has lost much of this prestige, and yet he still has to work just as hard as before. Today, the hero role has been assumed by others.
The film was shot in the Ukraine, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, and Germany. The locations were illegal coal mines, a volcano where sulfur is extracted, a public outdoor slaughterhouse, a ship graveyard, a government-owned steel complex, and a former smelting plant that is now a leisure park and venue for special events.
The book gives extra information about the locations and the thoughts surrounding the film. But it also spans the more than four years of preparation work, including all the locations that were researched and rejected along the way. The locations that made it into the movie are complemented here by stories that were filmed but discarded, trips to and research done in Tanzania, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Russia, North Korea, Azerbaijan, and Switzerland.
In each country, moreover, an independent photographer who was not connected with the shooting or the views of the film was invited to put together his own photo essay and tell his own story. The participating photographers were Viktor Marushenko in the Ukraine, Mohammed Iqbal in Indonesia, James Uche Irocha in Nigeria, G.M.B. Akash in Pakistan, and Zhou Hai in China. Each of these photographers chose a different style and working method. Represented here is thus an entire range, from black & white to color to painted-over photos. Some images come from photographers or people who crossed our paths and left us with a few of their shots or sent them to us later.
Some photos were taken as gifts for the workers, others were just shot as part of the process of getting to know a location, and still others were taken with this book in mind and the idea of a story one might be able to tell.
The book also contains damaged photos as well as descriptions of photos never taken - and why they were never taken. It talks about how hard it is to take certain photos, about the initial reluctance one has to take a picture of a stranger; about familiarization, moments of recognition, and the beautiful instant of shooting a photo that is precise and right. It tells about places where we weren't allowed to take photographs and yet we managed to, and about places where we had permission, but weren't able to. It tells about the beauty of the still unfinished and the motifs of the recurring, about the losses and small victories a photographer may experience every once in a while.
Workingman's Death was conceived as a book for the senses, a book that defines itself by looking and telling stories. Only rarely does it develop theories, usually it tries to coax the reader and viewer to come along on a trip, a journey that conquers unknown territory and seeks to reconquer what is long familiar. It tries to preserve moments that the movie has lost, to unlock thoughts for new movies, new images, and new stories.
It is in precisely this sense that this book should be seen as an everyday book that you don't just stick on a library shelf and forget about, but one that can be carried around everywhere. You can start reading from whatever page you happen to open it to, and at the same time, if you'd rather, you can read this elliptical and excursive narrative from beginning to end, like an essay in image and word.

official website

order the book

back to catalog

Workingman's Death

M. Glawogger's previous film on DVD: Megacities

	WORKINGMAN'S DEATH : The book by Michael Glawogger The book Workingman's Death makes reference to the eponymous film without attempting to be a typical companion-to-the-film book. It was conceived as a photography book for daily use - one you can "stick in your pocket," a book of images to look at and stories to read, a book that lets you see the photos differently through the stories and read the stories differently through the photos. The stories all revolve around photography, travel, the making of a film, and a particular way of viewing the world. The superordinate theme is work, or to be more precise, the workingman himself. The movie Workingman's Death visits six different places on several continents and examines the social standing of workers who toil at grueling manual labor jobs in the twenty-first century. In the first half of the previous century the worker was still being stylized into a role model, into the pillar of support in various social systems, even into a hero. Now he has lost much of this prestige, and yet he still has to work just as hard as before. Today, the hero role has been assumed by others. The film was shot in the Ukraine, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, and Germany. The locations were illegal coal mines, a volcano where sulfur is extracted, a public outdoor slaughterhouse, a ship graveyard, a government-owned steel complex, and a former smelting plant that is now a leisure park and venue for special events. The book gives extra information about the locations and the thoughts surrounding the film. But it also spans the more than four years of preparation work, including all the locations that were researched and rejected along the way. The locations that made it into the movie are complemented here by stories that were filmed but discarded, trips to and research done in Tanzania, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Russia, North Korea, Azerbaijan, and Switzerland. In each country, moreover, an independent photographer who was not connected with the shooting or the views of the film was invited to put together his own photo essay and tell his own story. The participating photographers were Viktor Marushenko in the Ukraine, Mohammed Iqbal in Indonesia, James Uche Irocha in Nigeria, G.M.B. Akash in Pakistan, and Zhou Hai in China. Each of these photographers chose a different style and working method. Represented here is thus an entire range, from black & white to color to painted-over photos. Some images come from photographers or people who crossed our paths and left us with a few of their shots or sent them to us later. Some photos were taken as gifts for the workers, others were just shot as part of the process of getting to know a location, and still others were taken with this book in mind and the idea of a story one might be able to tell. The book also contains damaged photos as well as descriptions of photos never taken - and why they were never taken. It talks about how hard it is to take certain photos, about the initial reluctance one has to take a picture of a stranger; about familiarization, moments of recognition, and the beautiful instant of shooting a photo that is precise and right. It tells about places where we weren't allowed to take photographs and yet we managed to, and about places where we had permission, but weren't able to. It tells about the beauty of the still unfinished and the motifs of the recurring, about the losses and small victories a photographer may experience every once in a while. Workingman's Death was conceived as a book for the senses, a book that defines itself by looking and telling stories. Only rarely does it develop theories, usually it tries to coax the reader and viewer to come along on a trip, a journey that conquers unknown territory and seeks to reconquer what is long familiar. It tries to preserve moments that the movie has lost, to unlock thoughts for new movies, new images, and new stories. It is in precisely this sense that this book should be seen as an everyday book that you don't just stick on a library shelf and forget about, but one that can be carried around everywhere. You can start reading from whatever page you happen to open it to, and at the same time, if you'd rather, you can read this elliptical and excursive narrative from beginning to end, like an essay in image and word.