There are at least two reductia ad absurdum in your comment.

1. That all possible stories have been told and that consequently we should kill ourselves now.

2. That the only way to “make a difference” is to completely solve a problem. It is not difficult to argue that if one person is helped — if one person does not contract HIV or go into liver failure due to hepatitis, for example — a difference has been made.

The arcs of other peoples’ lives are not worth less than your photographic ego.

While there statements may seem a bit at odds with each other, I tend to agree with both Imants and MW. It would be great to somehow truly wrap the men patronizing these women into the story, not necessarily just in furtive glimpses to humiliate them or embarrass them and their wives and daughters, but to seek out and try to illuminate the forces within them that drive them to seek out the women you are working with.

This would be one hell of a challenge, but it would raise your essay to a new level, I think.

I know that this is a short pitch documentary and that your hope is to delve and to explore the lives of the women whose jobs are prostitutes and i really do hope you are able to delve further into the world between the choice of being a prostitute and those who are traffic’d. It was difficult for me to discern the difference here. Examining the lives of these women, seems to me, is a particularly salient project at the moment given what is happening in Greece these last 2 1/2 years and may make for quite a rich story resonant of many of the hypocricies that exist in Greece (all nations) particularly as they apply to economic austerity (read: severity) measure (the wealthy never seem to suffer, do they during times of political/economic ‘austerity’).

What interests me about this project is less about the sex/world-of-prostitution than it is how these women engage in the very real and troubled reality that is the current economic/political situation in greece. that may sound hi falutent, but I’ve known 2 woman who’ve been escorts (one dealing with politicians/’wealthy’ and one a student dealing with the rest of folk) and both suggested that they see and know more about the lives around (and at the top) than most sitting around watching tv and feeding upon the media’s depiction….because of what has happened in greece, there just seems a rich vein of stories here that may just be off the norm of most documentaries about prostitution…or even traffic’ing in the reality of present day greece…

anyway, best of luck and I hope it goes well for you and these women

cheers
bob

I realize a photographer has got to make a living which seems, ironically, a distinction without a difference in this case.