René Groebli: Beryl Chen

The young woman from the outland ... she waits ... for work, for an encounter, for friendship, for some conversation - perhaps for love. 

Swiss photographer René Groebli visited London in 1953 and by chance encuntered Beryl Chen, a young women recently arrived in the city along with a wave of other immigrants seeking a better future. Her Jamaican mother and Chinese father far away, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and affirmation, and agrees to be photographed by Groebli. Using black-and-white images made with his Leica camera, he mixes reportage and artful storytelling in an attempt to document her life in this new, formidable city. Perhaps she will find her purpose, or happiness; perhaps she will find even love. Now, 60 years later, this previously unpublished series of images finally comes to light.

Text by Téo Schlachter. Layout Werner Zyrd & René Groebli. 

©Photographs René Groebli