“SZ: Why did you never take photos of people or of faces?
HB: Because people weren’t our subject matter. People are a different topic.

SZ: But people are an interesting topic.
HB: Maybe for others, not for us. If someone takes photos of cathedrals nobody asks: Where is the priest? Where are the worshipers? That would not be suitable. If there’s a person in an image, s/he dominates that image. And if s/he is not part of the topic, s/he is in the way.

SZ: But why furnaces and conveyor belts?
HB: Because they are honest. They are functional, and they reflect what they do - that is what we liked. A person always is what s/he wants to be, never what s/he is. Even an animals usually plays a role in front of the camera.”

Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin interviews Hilla Becher.