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Over time I came to understand them better. I understood the value of their houses and the flowers. The houses, and in particular the kitchens, constitute a kind of secret on the horizon, where the Mennonites take refuge, for hours on end, among objects and trinkets full of personal meaning.
Separated from work and from their husbands, the women forge their own universe, fashioned out of chats, memories, secrets, friendships, pleasures, and diversions. They hide this universe beneath their cumbersome, unrevealing clothes and a reserved gaze, directed at the world.
For their part, the flowers are the common denominator among these women. The flowers appear in their dresses, in their objects, in their names, and in their gardens. The flowers have thus provided a title for the series: “The Flower Women”, or in their native tongue (German), “Fraum Blaum.”
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