Michael Mauracher has produced a wonderful book, conceived together with Janine Thaler, who is also responsible for the design.

It is a book that is different in every respect, unusual and full of surprises. The poetic title suggests that a story is being told, perhaps a love story that begins with the appearance of an unknown girl... Well, the strange girl does indeed exist, a child in a holiday photo from 1958, ‘who happened to be in the picture.’ But Mauracher tells a different story, about his search for his own history in the relics of his family, about his affection for his home in the Zillertal valley, about his love for his profession, photography, and about his desire to explore the past of the medium.
Thus, Mauracher is constantly present – not only as an author, but also as a participant – and at the same time he manages to keep his distance. With a laconic lecture, a strict structure, and a presentation form that is as unusual as it is appropriate, he succeeds in combining the individual with the general, the special with the everyday, the private with the public. The photographs present the members of several families from earlier generations, at the end of which stands the author. We learn something about the so-called ‘Christlhaus’, an inn in Hippach near Zell am Ziller, from which all the material for the illustrations comes.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)