A rather unusual email request was sent to the police chief at the end of December 2022 asking her to take part in a photography project.
It was to be a series of portraits of women in NRW today "who have taken on responsibility in the powerful field of tension in economic, cultural or social areas in our society - including in previously male-dominated areas of work".
After receiving the concept paper with a brief overview of the intentions of the photo project and the artists behind the project, our head of government did not hesitate for long and agreed to take part.
As soon as they had agreed, the artists Carsten Reinhold Schulz and Jose Luis Martinez made their way from Düsseldorf to Bielefeld for the photo shoot.
So our meeting room at police headquarters became a photo studio and Dr. Sandra Müller-Steinhauer became part of the project funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The 20 women portrayed were invited to the event, so that - in keeping with the dramaturgy of the art project - the network depicted in the photograph became a social reality through the actual gathering of those portrayed.
Eight of the women portrayed were able to meet and network for the first time at the initial presentation, including the head of our office.
Police Commissioner Dr. Sandra Müller-Steinhauer is happy to be part of this project and welcomes the idea of "The Assembly" supporting as many women and institutions as possible in the promotion of women's networks and in the social discussion on issues of equality and equal rights.