Still Working
Madita Schmidt
HAWK Hildesheim
Still Working is a documentary photography project exploring the lives of elderly workers in Japan, where over 25% of people aged 65 and older remain employed—nearly four times the rate in Germany. Through intimate portraits and everyday scenes, the series examines why continuing to work late in life is so much more common in Japan, revealing contrasting cultural attitudes toward retirement, aging, and the meaning of labor. The project focuses on dignity, routine, and identity, asking what work signifies when it extends far beyond conventional retirement age. By comparing these Japanese realities with German norms, Still Working invites viewers to reconsider assumptions about aging, productivity, and the social value of older workers in rapidly aging societies.