A true story based on the the life of Maria Larsonn in Sweden during the early years of the 20th century. The movie traces Maria's life through marriage, seven children, poverty, manual labour, domestic violence and betrayal against a backdrop of working class life and the First World War.
Maria wins a camera in a lottery and is befriended by the local town photographer. Photography enables Maria to transcend the trials of daily life, fix essential moments in time and offer comfort to other women.
As the film trailer says photography "opened her eyes" and that "not everyone is endowed with the gift of seeing". Maria comments that "the pictures take over" and wants to give the camera away. But the photographer reminds her that once you see the world in this way you can't go back.
