Around 1900 Marianne Strobl presented Vienna as a scene of radical modernization: she pointed her camera at the foundations of gasometers, at the concrete skeletons of factories or – thanks to the recently introduced magnesium flash – into the depths of water reservoirs or sewer shafts. The photographer’s assignment was to produce spectacular images of the internal structures that would later no longer be visible, and which allowed the construction industry to visually underline the arguments for the use of innovative technologies. The fact that the City of Vienna, as the operator of facilities ranging from gasworks to telephone exchanges, also used these photographs for advertising purposes was certainly a desirable side effect. What makes Marianne Strobl’s work unique is the inventive and imaginating staging of working people not only on construction sites but also in restaurants, hotels, and hospitals.