Note · 29 May 2026
[fo] 07/26 Photography
KWS Saat. Industry Is People, Too.
Industry · Roman Thomas
Industry is often photographed cold. I am interested in the opposite. The machines, the research and above all the people who make it all possible.
Industry Without Coldness
Industrial photography easily tips into slickness. Gleaming equipment, nobody in sight, everything polished. That does not interest me. A plant lives from what happens there, and that almost always means people.
I look for the point where technology and work meet. A hand on the machine, a focused gaze in the research lab, a moment that makes clear there is an attitude behind the production.
Industry is people, too.
Production and Research
At KWS, research joins production. That makes the task richer. It is not just about equipment, but about work that aims at the future. I try to make that palpable in the picture without asserting it.
A Connection Beyond Photography
What connects me to KWS is more than a commission. The company has exhibited my artistic series Hidden Places. Two of my fields, the commercial and the free work, meet here in the same place.