For a project called 1000 Strangers, photographer Laura Zalenga approached random people on the street and asked to take their photograph. It was a fun exercise in portraiture, but Zalenga began to notice something that surprised and saddened her: older people tended to say no to being photographed. Frequently they would demur, saying, “I’m not beautiful anymore. Maybe you should photograph someone who’s younger.”

Zalenga was struck by these encounters, and decided she wanted to explore the idea of aging more closely in a documentary-style series. Dramatic self-portraiture is the German photographer’s usual specialty; her work tends to feature stunning natural backdrops and carefully posed subjects. Photographing elderly people in their homes would be a huge departure, but the more she thought about it, the more important the project seemed.

She had been thinking about applying to Adobe’s Creative Residency, which offers photographers a year of funding and mentorship support to complete a personal project. Zalenga had applied the year prior, but hadn’t been accepted, and was hesitant to pitch a photo series on old age to Adobe. “They’re probably not going to pick this because it’s about old people,” she said. But the Creative Residency liked her idea, and Zalenga is now working full-time on the project, which she’s titled The Beauty of Age, or Die Schönheit des Alters.

We called Zalenga in Biberach, the southern German town where she lives, to learn more about how the series is coming together. She shared some of the as yet unpublished images from the project, and told us about the challenges and unexpected rewards of photographing people over 80.

Format Magazine: How did this project come about after your 1000 Strangers series?

Laura Zalenga: With that project it just stood out so clearly that the older people were not thinking of themselves as worthy to be photographed. I had people where I told them that I thought they looked great, and they had tears in their eyes because it was so long since someone had told them they’re beautiful. That really made me think—something’s so wrong with that.

I also noticed that I don’t talk to a lot of old people. I see my grandpa every now and then, but as he’s not living in my hometown it’s not very often. I realized that you can gain so much from these old people. I talked to other young people and they were like, “Yeah, I talk to my grandma when I say, ‘Thanks for the Christmas money,’ and that’s basically it.” To me it felt weird throwing away this big gift that is here in the form of the knowledge and the wisdom of old people and their stories.

I think that’s the whole motivation for the project, to make that wisdom visible and to share it and to hopefully spark the idea for some other people to maybe have one old friend in their lives. It’s beneficial for both sides, because some of the old people really told me, actually said this sentence, “I feel useless, and that’s why I want to die.” We should show these people that there is value in them, and in their knowledge and in their existence.