Janet Mendelsohn — a closer look at everyday life

The Birmingham project (1967–1969)

In the late 1960s, Janet Mendelsohn began photographing life in Balsall Heath, a working-class neighborhood in Birmingham, England. At the time, the area was known for its mix of migrant communities, tightly packed housing, and a reputation as the city’s red-light district. But Mendelsohn wasn’t interested in headlines or stereotypes. She wanted to capture life as it was—small moments of routine, resilience, and quiet struggle.

Her approach was patient and personal. She spent time with people, talking to them, understanding their daily lives, and gaining their trust. As a result, her photographs don’t feel intrusive or staged. They show children playing in alleys, families gathered in cramped homes, and women looking out of windows, lost in thought. One of her most well-known subjects was a woman named Kathleen, a sex worker whose life Mendelsohn documented in a series of intimate, striking images. But rather than portraying her through the usual lens of judgment or pity, Mendelsohn’s photos reveal her as a complex, ordinary person—laughing, waiting, walking the streets like anyone else.

What makes this project remarkable is its honesty. Instead of focusing on poverty or hardship as spectacle, Mendelsohn’s images highlight the everyday rhythms of life. She captured moments of joy, boredom, and tenderness alongside struggle. Her work sits somewhere between journalism, anthropology, and art—it’s a record of a place and time, but one that leaves space for the viewer to interpret.

At the time, her photographs were part of a larger academic study at the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. But decades later, when her work resurfaced in exhibitions, it became clear how much more it was than just research. These images are not just historical documents; they are glimpses into individual lives, full of dignity and depth.