Angela Merkel has been posing for the same portrait for the last 26 years

We’ve all seen some pretty impressive photo series over the years; but this one, of Europe's most powerful politician, might top them all.

Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel has been photographed by Herlinde Koelbl since 1991, back when she was a minister for women and children.

Merkel – or “mutti” (mother in German), as she is nicknamed – started posing for photos alongside other German politicians for a study called “Traces of Power,” to portray what life was like in the public eye, and how it changed them all over 10 years.

Merkel remained grounded over this time, a New Yorker piece states, and Koelbl told the magazine:

You could feel her strength at the beginning.

Merkel is not vain—still. And that helped her, because if you’re vain you are subjective. If you’re not vain, you are more objective.

Koelbl has continued to meet with Merkel every year.

Picture: AFP / GETTY / KAVEH ROSTAMKHANI

But some might be surprised by Merkel’s decision to take part, as she’s renowned for being serious and very private.

According to the Irish Times, she once told Die Zeit:

When I looked at Traces of Power recently I laughed a lot at some passages. That I ever agreed to the Koelbl project surprises me to this day.

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