"Truck Stop" is an ongoing photo project that seeks to shed light on the diverse stories of an often overlooked group of people: truck drivers.

For "Truck Stop", Berlin-based photographer Maya Sehmer undertook a collaboration with her friend and sister-in-law Jeanne Lavrut, who studies design at the FH Potsdam. The project began with a shared interest in people fascinated by cars, opening up many questions about what the car represents in our society, about masculinity, politics, freedom, and other issues.

Over the past six months, the two have visited truck stops, petrol stations, roadside cafes, and truck accessory shops, talking to truckers and capturing their stories. This series of photographs represents the beginning of an exploration into a world that is foreign to many, revealing a range of perspectives on the life of a trucker, many with different attitudes to their job: to some, it is everything, work and hobby merging in every layer of their lives, to others it is a burdensome obligation in an attempt to make ends meet.

Despite language barriers and reactions ranging from kindness to indifference to rejection, this outtake from the series offers a glimpse into the diverse world of life on the road.

Maya Sehmer is a photography student at the Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie in Berlin. Her photographic work is driven by a curiosity to explore unfamiliar environments, "to get closer to the realities of different lives through the lens of a camera," as she says. Having grown up in England, Cologne, and Berlin, Maya feels a connection to nomadic lifestyles, which she sees reflected in the lives of the truckers she photographs.