Still Working is my Master’s project in Integrated Design, combining documentary photography, research, publication design and exhibition-making. The project explores the lives of older workers in Japan, where employment in later life is substantially more common than in Germany. Through intimate portraits and everyday scenes, it considers why work continues to play such a central role beyond conventional retirement age. Employment rates for people aged 65–69 are around 54% in Japan, compared with approximately 20% in Germany.
The series examines dignity, routine and identity, asking what work signifies when it extends into later life. By comparing Japanese realities with German norms, Still Working invites viewers to reconsider assumptions about ageing, productivity and the social value of older people in rapidly ageing societies.
As part of the project, I designed and produced an accompanying book publication and curated and realised an exhibition for the university’s annual graduate show. The project received the highest possible grade.
