Bangkok, November 28, 2008:
Nat , 22, a prostitute and single mother, poses in a short-time hotel.
photograph by katharina hesse
- burn is an evolving
journal
for emerging photographers.
burn is curated by
magnum photographer
david alan harvey.
Daily posts from RIO
burn magazine
BURN books
EPF 2011 Finalists
- EPF 2011 Winner
- daisuke ito – losolmo gym
- dominic bracco II – life and death in the northern pass
- michael christopher brown – the libyan republic
- irina werning – back to the future
- tushikur rahman – fatalistic tendency
- laura el-tantawy – In the shadow of the pyramids: egypt
- zhe chen – bees
- benjamin rusnak – 23º, far from paradise
- daria tuminas – ivan and the moon
photographic essays
- alvaro deprit – black garden
- behind the scenes – the rio book edit
- alfredo chiarappa – crossing leningrad
- teresa cos – i was there – observations on “the Society of the spectacle”
- charlotte tanguy – nyx
- grogan diarmait – new way home
- Happy Ending
- alberto lizaralde – frail
- valerio spada – gomorrah girl
- g.m.b. akash – The Bitterest Pill – A new danger for child sex workers in Bangladesh
- ARCHIVE
works in progress
in the spotlight
dialogue
twitter feed
- My place Friday afternoon sunset glow Eva and Kaya helping me sequence Rio still on the wall hell I hope it never http://t.co/YMzRTWWb 4 days ago
- Every night seems to be party night around the RIO show. Surely no formal exhibition can beat having your friends http://t.co/t0xUTALq 1 week ago
- Is there anything better than late afternoon light, two smart as hell beautiful creative women, and doing a book http://t.co/Wccvnir3 1 week ago
- More updates...
recent comments
- Akaky on behind the scenes – the rio book edit
- Carlo on alvaro deprit – black garden
- mw on behind the scenes – the rio book edit
- Haik on alvaro deprit – black garden
- Carlo on behind the scenes – the rio book edit
- michael kircher on behind the scenes – the rio book edit
- Carlo on alvaro deprit – black garden
- pAtrIcIO m. on alvaro deprit – black garden
- srinivaskuruganti on alvaro deprit – black garden
- Jonathan VDK on alvaro deprit – black garden
- Jeff Hladun on behind the scenes – the rio book edit
- pAtrIcIO m. on behind the scenes – the rio book edit
- pAtrIcIO m. on behind the scenes – the rio book edit
- petelongworth on behind the scenes – the rio book edit
- Gordon Lafleur on behind the scenes – the rio book edit
links
- “At Home with David Alan Harvey – Workshop 2006: A Week of Inspiration and Learning” by Lance Rosenfield
- 100 eyes
- 37th frame
- anthropographia
- Anton Kusters
- Arles Photo Festival
- Bruce Davidson
- Burnians
- david alan harvey
- David Campbell
- Digital Journalist
- duckrabbit
- Editions Didier Millet
- Eugene Richards
- Festival of the Photograph
- fotokonbit.org
- Fraction Magazine
- Greg Gorman
- James Nachtwey
- John Vink
- Kim Reierson
- La Pura Vida
- Larry Towell
- Lens – New York Times photoblog
- Magnum in Motion: Living Proof
- Marie Arago
- Martin Parr
- MediaStorm
- Michael Courvoisier
- Michael Loyd Young
- National Geographic
- Oaxaca Day of the Dead Workshop 2008
- picturestoryblog.com
- Sally Mann
- Steve McCurry
- Thailand: 9 Days in the Kingdom
- the Click
- theprintspace
- Trent Parke
- Verve Photo
- VII Photo
- Visa pour l’image
- Visura Magazine
- Winephoto
- zReportage
Beautiful picture full of emotions. Incredible light, smooth atmosphere, the angle…Just great, Katharina!
Katharina,
You know I love this picture as I seem to remember telling it to you at the time I saw it. This essay you have developed on Bangkok prostitutes is one of of the strongest body of work for me that I have seen develop on the blog. I really encourage all to check the full esssay on your site if not already done. Your pictures are beautiful aesthetically but also very tough at the same time. There is something cold, harsh in these photographs with these almost “metallic” colors of blue and green but at the same time, some have some hidden warmth with very saturated colors like in a Wong Kar Wai film (I hope I got the spelling right). I love these Katharina… You have a great talent!
By the way, I remember you were last on a mission to get some additional street scenes while in Bangkok. I did not see any new ones in youyr essay just yet…. Any luck?
Take care.
Eric
Awesome light, great gesture, interesting subject. Wow…
You have a very beautiful look, I know very well your essay, I like very much your inside, your atmospheres, you knew how to get very intimate scenes, you have ressussi to establish the confidence as well with the prostitutes as with the customers, your approach is just and without judgment…
good continuance, audrey
very strong image katharina!
srini
Hey Kat :)))
What a great and pleasant experience to open up the magazine and see this picture. As you know, i’ve always loved the photograph and the BKK Human Negotiations essay…though it seems you’re expanding it to Beijing right?…..i’ve always loved the wongKarWei (maybe christopher doyle ;) ) colors, and i like very much the muted amber tones of this particular photograph as a departure from the intensity of the blues of the original series….what i have always loved about this photographs is, like the portrait of the girl on the bed with the green towel or the photograph of the girl standing on the street or the photograph of the John with the girl in the bar at the table or the magisterial photograph of the old woman is it’s sense of isolation and existential negotiation…i have always always preferred the quiet solitary shots and portraits to the photographs with the sex (though they’re necessary) and I am so happy to see this photograph showcased as a way for people to get beyond the specifics of these young girls work/identity to tourists (sex workers) and begin to try to see them as women, strong or sad, fevered or lonely…..
happy to see u here Kat :)))
hugs
bob
DAH,
thanks a lot for posting the picture. I only discovered the “submission” category shortly before I boarded a flight to Germany, now, one day later I am sitting here and it´s there.
If you ever find some time to look through the entire thing, I would be very grateful.
All:
thanks for the nice comments….
Eric : what´s currently on my website is only an “extract” or an update…. not the finished essay. ..I am trying to work on that now….
Bob: right…. I remember your input from spring time….. which was very helpful…
Actually, the time we just hung with the girls , or just chatted with them by learning about their lifes while trying to leave prejudice, “concerned” thinking behind ( who says protstitution forcibally means : sex only or: show the exploitation by the pimp/mama-san , show the dirty lifestyle … etc ? )
The characters we met in fact were quite surprising and of multiple layers….
Bob,
sorry, forgot to finish the sentence… :
The time we just hung with the girls……. (bla bla…)… was possibily the most educational one for myself but also in progressing with the photos.
hey kate…
very nice to see so more of your bkk-work! what an insightful photograph! looking forward for the whole thing….
cheers chris
Love it !
Hi. Katharina, I would love to see the entire thing, can you post the link?
Katharina, any attempt at this topic has always left me wondering if there is ever another spirit to this often told story. i speculate there might be other endings, but i’ve never seen a situation so ripe to pose the question before reading your comments and viewing your essay on Human Negotiation.
although you have icy cold colour temperatures and the backdrops always seem to suggest only a few notches from the slums, the expressions of the women are far from expressing discomfort and duress and the camera angles and emotions look more beautiful than tragic.
Katharina, you also suggest the subjects you’ve been exposed to (not to suggest your exposure to be representative of all similar subjects)…. but the exposure you had with your subjects suggest that these women were to some extent enlightened.
so i guess i have two questions,….. first, Katharina, it’s stating the obvious that you’ve been close to the people in the photographs, do these women want our pity?
And question number two, is it possible that your beautified depiction of this topic could leave us to believe that the subjects you’ve photographed feel more the Victor verses the Victim?
The exact opposite of this topic rendering for me is what Jonathon Taylor did, sorry for one more question Katharina, but how do you compare your rendering of this topic to Jon’s effort here….
thank you in advance Katharina for considering these questions,
-Joe
Katharina,
i’m so glad i see your photo in a BURNmagazine page…
super dope!
Hopefully , the “dopest” magazine, ever…
Stunning, stunning body of work … as it was when I saw its inception on the screen everyday in BKK, at least I think it was the beginning. It has grown to be much more. Look forward to a “finished” essay but I suspect this may never truly be finished for you. I hope not, you could do much more with this over the years exploring, as you say, the multiple layers and following some of these specific women. I think “multiple layers” is incredibly important, it rises this work up into something important. The above and frames 5 and 14 on your website (i’ll never forget the collective whoa! when those came up and David and JN’s discussion of them) remain some of the strongest for me. I think it would be interesting to see more juxtapositions, contradictions and the puncturing of viewer expectations while still holding aesthetic consistency … or a juxtaposition of the color palette between their respective “lives” could be just as brilliant perhaps. You could end up with a book that has chapter changes with color palette shifts, i.e. the American flag frames in Franks’ The Americans.
Back on point. Who are these women, really? How do they transcend what they do as human beings? How do they retain their humanity? As the above caption reads, “Nat , 22, a prostitute and single mother …,” you have a stunning image of one-half the story there. As Bob Black said, the body of work will be whole when we “begin to try to see them as women, strong or sad, fevered or lonely ….” It sounds as if you are already well on the way down this path with work unseen and likely we are just reinforcing what you already know.
This is just incredible work Kat that deserves serious discourse. I agree, it’s among the very strongest and most important work seen here. It’s an honor to view it in progress. You are well on your way, do not stop, and in fact you now have a responsibility with the access you have attained and lives you have touched.
So the core question is always, and most importantly here, What do you owe them? And, how do you honor that?
Ops. Now I understand how this goes. I enter your site and suppose this picture is from Human Negociations work in progress. Looks very good. I will follow the answers of the questions writed by others here. Just curious.
Herman,
nice work…u have done !
i dig it!
:-)
peace
Hi,
I´ll answer tomorrow….
Katharina, dont the johns object to your snapping away while they’re copulating? Unless you’re a porn actor, I can’t think of a more objectionable time to having your photo taken.
JOE, you know the questions to ask. Please introduce yourself as I can’t identify you at Magnum; at least from your link here. The photographs here show empathy with the subjects depicted but they seem almost separated from their circumstances. I can’t believe that the profession of prostitution is a first choice but I can recognize the beauty of of a human being who happens to be a prostitute. Life is an enigma.
Mike R.
Mike R !!!
you know what ???
… You could be right on…!
hmmm…
“Life is an enigma”
I think you make sense!
peace
Thats a nice portrait, great emotion and mood.
Akaky….been meaning to tell u for a while….my grandmom was from albany…(before she hightailed it to Fla) and have spent a number o drive by trips along the hudson….and toasseted around that quaint burb….and i’ve also always wanted to ask u if u r a williamkennedy (the writer, of course) fan?…..and this for u irish-russian whoever u r ;))))
my mom, in Irish girl to the lass(t) just left after a week…sending u now some more Irish drunkeness…..
“sad and weary I go back to you, my cold father, my cold mad father, my cold mad feary father, till the near sight of the mere size of him, the moyles and moyles of it, moananoaning, makes me seasilt saltsick and I rush, my only, into your arms. I see them rising! Save me from those therrble prongs! Two more. Onetwo moremens more. So. Avelaval. My leaves have drifted from me. All. But one clings still. I’ll bear it on me. To remind me of. Lff! So soft this morning, ours. Yes. Carry me along, taddy, like you
done through the toy fair! If I seen him bearing down on me now under whitespread wings like he’d come from Arkangels, I sink I’d die down over his feet, humbly dumbly, only to washup. Yes, tid. There’s where. First. We pass through grass behush the bush to. Whish! A gull. Gulls. Far calls. Coming, far! End here. Us then. Finn, again! Take. Bussoftlhee, mememormee! Till thous-endsthee. Lps. The keys to. Given! A way a lone a last a loved a long the..”
runnning
b
katharina–
your bangkok photos take my breath away.
on one level – tragic.
on another, sheer beauty.
i hope you can get this essay published.
What a striking image, Well done!
I look forward to seeing all that is in store for Burn Magazine and it’s collective talent!
Cheers, Jeremy
Truly Inspiring photo. Thank you so much for sharing this!!
Alex Vazquez
lovely light and moment. beautiful.
The feeling tone in this portrait relates to the pose which relates to the palette which relates to the light. A remarkable photo. I also looked at every one of your portfolios on your web site and am most impressed. You, my friend, are an exceptional photographer.
Strong Picture, and really cool project… and kool website.. I kept it among my favorites.
This is in every respect a stunningly good image . . .
The selection on your own website is also one of those that have made the strongest impression on me: each photo being a different, fresh visual and emotional experience.
Hi Mike R.. your Magnum reference confuses me a bit as my only association with Magnum is that i tend to type a bit over there as well.. nothing more, nothing less :-) thanks.
Katharina,
I am coming late to the party (as usual) but I want to join others in saying what an extremely strong, evocative, and beautiful image this is, and how happy I am to see your photo on the front page of Burn. For once I am at a loss for words in responding to this photo (which is probably a good thing!) but for some reason it reminded me of this passage from Goethe’s Faust:
Drum hab ich mich der Magie ergeben,
Ob mir durch Geistes Kraft und Mund
Nicht manch Geheimnis würde kund;
Daß ich nicht mehr mit saurem Schweiß
Zu sagen brauche, was ich nicht weiß;
Daß ich erkenne, was die Welt
Im Innersten zusammenhält,
Schau alle Wirkenskraft und Samen,
Und tu nicht mehr in Worten kramen.
Hernan :
I ‘ll post one small edit sooner or later on my website… for the entire thing will still take a while as we have some ideas…
Joe : I am not sure if there’s only ONE “often told story”.It rather seems to me it’s a rather wide topic that can be photographed from various angles and that presents itself differently depending on where you live and how you see it. What, for example, have Guilio de Sturca’s “Brothel City” (www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/contact_sheet/15906), Marcello Bonfanti’s dragqueens ( http://www.marcelbon.com)or Lauren Greenfield’s “Bunny Ranch” photos in common with those by Nick Nostiz or Jon Taylor other than their subjects are women who sell themselves ?
Maybe what’s been associated quite often with prostitution in media or rewarded as
“ good” in some contests are the (negative) “ highlights “: the assumption that ALL prostitutes per se operate in an illegal environment, they must be drug addicts , suffer, are smuggled in from other countries … do their job against their own will …ect. ..and you as the photographer “give them a voice” ?
If those standards represent “ the often told story” that we all know about already my project is a total failure.
“ …..the exposure you had with your subjects suggest that these women were to some extent enlightened “
Not really. They simply accepted to be photographed , or let’s say they were at ease to a certain degree .
“And question number two, is it possible that your beautified depiction of this topic could leave us to believe that the subjects you’ve photographed feel more the Victor verses the Victim? ”
hm…. not sure . I simply took pictures of them without paying much attention to beautification and without prior preparation. This said, it helped certainly that quite a few among them are quite pretty by nature…I didn´t do anything to make them look better than they do.
Why though would this make the girls feel like victors ?
Tom :
These women want my pity ? Why do you think they would need my or anyone else’s pity ? Possibly one of the factors that resulted in the pictures I shot was that I simply followed their lifestyles and tried to respect them without judging or projecting some pre-conceived ideas on them and the mere fact I didn’t look at them from a potential customers’ angle, no rush either (which is quite different from the workshop) … last but not least : respect their vulnerable sides as well. That’s what you owe them as a photographer I think. They are not “ your “ subjects.
Akay : the men are pretty much unidentifiable in my pictures which is part of the deal, or more precisely : it’s the reason some did agree to be in the pictures . The few frames where you can see their full faces indeed have been removed due to privacy concerns. This said, while some men totally objected to be photographed, others, especially younger ones, have been quite encouraging.
Sidney,
that fits pretty well !
Hmmm, I didn’t use the word nor intend to imply pity in any way …
Tom,
sorry sorry..I confused your comment with Joe´s!
SIDNEY…
well, well, you are back!!! you are probably going away quickly again however, because i am just now ready to post Panos’ Venice Beach…awww c’mon have a look….
by the way, i will be in your territory soonest…i am taking you to lunch or dinner or whatever you want…pleased you are around again..we missed you…
cheers, david
KATIA…
i am looking for you!! let’s please talk soonest about a story on you and your kids…..up for it??
cheers, david
riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend
of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to
Howth Castle and Environs.
Sir Tristram, violer d’amores, fr’over the short sea, had passen-
core rearrived from North Armorica on this side the scraggy
isthmus of Europe Minor to wielderfight his penisolate war: nor
had topsawyer’s rocks by the stream Oconee exaggerated themselse
to Laurens County’s gorgios while they went doublin their mumper
all the time: nor avoice from afire bellowsed mishe mishe to
tauftauf thuartpeatrick: not yet, though venissoon after, had a
kidscad buttended a bland old isaac: not yet, though all’s fair in
vanessy, were sosie sesthers wroth with twone nathandjoe. Rot a
peck of pa’s malt had Jhem or Shen brewed by arclight and rory
end to the regginbrow was to be seen ringsome on the aquaface.
The fall (bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonner-
ronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthur-
nuk!) of a once wallstrait oldparr is retaled early in bed and later
on life down through all christian minstrelsy. The great fall of the
offwall entailed at such short notice the pftjschute of Finnegan,
erse solid man, that the humptyhillhead of humself prumptly sends
an unquiring one well to the west in quest of his tumptytumtoes:
and their upturnpikepointandplace is at the knock out in the park
where oranges have been laid to rust upon the green since dev-
linsfirst loved livvy.
No, I haven’t read William Kennedy; I generally don’t read living novelists and it seems rude to ask them to drop dead simply to accomodate my quirks. I am a fan of Joyce, especially Dubliners, Portrait, and the more understandable parts of Ulysses. Finnegan’s Wake stopped me dead in my tracks, though. I’m not sure why not, butte ich kann nicht anderstand nunavut–eye cod pushkin oot oeuf de whey 4 the halibut & gogol at dose hoot ken gaiter watt joys seis bee caws oy hef noclew.
“Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise Duit.”
DID SOMEBODY SAID: “VENICE BEACH” ???????
Deal or not, their scrotums must be a deep shade of blue if they agreed to do what comes naturally with a working photographer in the room.
I am not sure to have understood everything well (I use the translators !) but how some know him(it) here, I worked for 3 years on a free prostitute in France too, and I can assure you that she did not want my pity, nor her friends, but to be considered as normal persons ! For what I saw of Katharina’s report, it is freely made, there is no procuring, who are us to judge these women who chose to prostitute themselves to live? I do not say that if they could her, they would not change a profession, but at the moment it is their reality…
I also think that the fact of being a woman makes the photographic approach different, there will be no desire between them and us, they can confide more easily…
Katharina, I love your photography !
David et al,
I never really ‘left’ but must confess I have been ‘on the back burner’ the last several weeks- work, survival necessities, holiday obligations, a few personal dramas, and a bad toothache have all kept me from contributing actively. But I’ve been reading bits and snatches of the dialog all along, and following the birth of ‘Burn’ with quietly smoldering interest. In fact, I have been incubating a long essay on the subject of ‘burning’ which I hope to post here in the next few days. But this afternoon I am all tied up. Back sooner than later, if not actually ‘soonest’. Cheers, all!
Katharina, this image is so strong and deep, the light nicely shows a little but not too much, there is way enough to imagine anything… I am eager to see your essay here, let’s hope…
Katharina, thanks for the response…. using generalisations when speaking of topics or approaches is always a risky short-cut, but fortunately you confirm you know exactly what i mean by ’often told story…’ when you say:
Maybe what’s been associated quite often with prostitution in media or rewarded as
“ good” in some contests are the (negative) “ highlights “: the assumption that ALL prostitutes per se operate in an illegal environment, they must be drug addicts , suffer, are smuggled in from other countries … do their job against their own will …ect. ..and you as the photographer “give them a voice” ?”
this does some up exactly what i was describing Katharina, thanks for confirming we are speaking of the same story…. as far as enlightened, my definition or the actual reality of the individuals may not agree; but it’s too difficult of a concept to explore this way, so let’s let that rest.
with regards to your references, Lauren Greenfield’s Bunny Ranch is a trophy piece of photojournalism… it’s a surgical, unadulterated and a very insightful piece of pure documentary. there is no victim or victor represented in these images, it’s rendered as honestly as an occupation,.. as an occupation when there are alternative occupations available far before we encounter Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Giulio Di Sturco’s Brothel City is interesting, thanks for introducing it to me Katharina ….it takes Laurens’ unadulterated photojournalism and colours it with artistic approaches that don’t prevent it from being documentary; but at times it seems more an autobiographical experience than general-documentary…. for some reason it makes me think of the master Antoine D’Agata, and because of this you wonder what logical conclusion Giulio plans to take his piece…. but back to the point, probably because both efforts in this area seem so autobiographical, they seem to evade the victimisation story you describe above Katharina.
i also mentioned pity, not because the answer was not clear from the images, but i was keen to be certain of your feelings as well Katharina…. as you describe both on their behalf and with your own moral compass,… there is nothing here to pity and there is not a message of pity in any of the images, so you are succeeding very well on that front.
you ask me why i might think they are victors? it’s simple Katharina, like you said, they don’t want our pity, you don’t think there’s any thing present to warrant pity….. and to take this view to the logical conclusion… these are just gainfully employed individuals…. that alone would make them victors in that economic climate, but there’s more….
Katharina, you say:
“I simply took pictures of them without paying much attention to beautification and without prior preparation”
…this is true, but your choice of composition, exposure, and after that, your edits,…. or more specifically, the images you choose to promote,… these of course form your message Katharina… and it’s a message that seems far more deliberate than you just being there to press the button on what you see and then let the chips fall where they fall.
it must be a much more talented effort than you say Katharina, because i’ve never seen an edit of images that render so beautifully, so sensationally, so voyeuristically, this topic…. all the comments that have spilled in so far confirm how beautiful this piece is.
and although you’ve not tried to make these women beautiful at work, Katharina you’ve done better,…. through your framing decisions and exposure settings, you’ve made them look gorgeous and pleased with their work, and like the image above, you’ve often put them in a superior and sometimes almost ecstatic states while doing their job, your effort essentially celebrates this profession and it’s for this reason i feel you have rendered them as victors Katharina.
i’m really looking forward to how you develop your message on this topic Katharina.
Best Wishes,
-Joe
Audrey,
I remember your thoughtful work on the prostitute in France and share your opinion on being a woman photographer … a Thai friend who has worked with me on the project for most of the time also came up with a similar remark once.
Joe,
Hm… “beautification”…….again . I am rather uncomfortable with these remarks (there was a similar one earlier on this year “elsewhere” describing another picture of the project : “The image is carefully lit and composed with consideration normally reserved for fashion photographs” )
Quite honestly: I very much think I only “press the button” without much deliberate consideration for composition , effects .Technically I am too “uneducated” &too too unpatient by nature to give much thoughts about these things. We work with what we have in terms of situations. Lengthy considerations on what frames I want to get exactly, how I want to make these girls look beautiful, how to lit them …. or a list with shots I need ….do not exist ( I tried here and there but it doesn’t work like that) . It’s nice to work with surprises and/or improvise with what you have and just go with the flow…in fact, why go out there and concentrate on pre-conceived ideas …while letting a dozen other photo-ops go unnoticed ?
Guilio: would be interesting to hear what he has to say .
Yan : thanks…. Let’s hope… indeed, there’s no need to show “ everything”.
Very nice angle and gesture , proper light, mood and atmosphere …
Thank you for sharing your nice photo, Katharina.
Hope to see your essay on Burn. :)))
Kyunghee Lee.
Thanks again Katharina, your such a good sport for letting us explore this project.
i understand your wish not to have your documentary work blessed only as fashion photography, but it’s a tremendous compliment before we even hear that you are not trying to make it so… this speaks loads to your photographic instinct. The fashion connotation might be an issue if it was only fashion photography, but i don’t think it will devalue your final product to have this attribute, because the topic has far more dimensions than pure product promotion.
and i’m sorry, but i’m finding it really hard to just say ‘best wishes’ on your project Katharina; it’s far too fascinating for me. i hope you don’t mind exploring it a bit more…
if you hadn’t offered it up here in an exploratory platform like Burn, i would totally leave you in peace, but i hope you take my fascination as a compliment and i hope it’s a testament to the fascination that most people have for this project as there is nothing personal about this project for me, purely general appeal, strong but general.
i guess the fascination for me comes from the fact that you truly are busting through a prevailing road-block on this topic, not necessary because others have not tried it, it’s because i don’t think they succeeded in creating a mainstream success of celebrating it, Katharina i think if you take this all the way, you may do just that.
you have managed to secure the photographic proximity typically reserved only for directors of pornography. i’m not saying the images you’ve collected are this Katharina, but your proximity can be compared only to this.
some documentary efforts implicate the photographer as they must be as close as family (e.g. Anton’s Sugar)…. but you transcend implication Katharina, your images are of a human exchange where someone’s presence is typically an invasion… that is unless they were getting paid to allow you to invade the act or the act was pseudo-fiction as it is in pornography.
so it’s stating the obvious, but your graceful presence is extraordinary Katharina. You manage to be so close to the act without creating inhibition. Even the pros in the industry have a hard time with this invasion, especially if there is flash photography involved, so it’s amazing that you’ve managed to succeed purely as a documentary effort of the real-life act.
this grace you possess will surely open doors to other places that the camera was believed to inhibit and will yield loads to your future as an extraordinary documentary photographer.
But grace is only one attribute; bold seems equally applicable to you Katharina…. your approach to pitching this project as documentary is very brave. Let’s admit the obvious here; this is a dark theme in the context you’ve chosen.
if you were to create the same portrait above using the same profession…. but in Las Vegas, where the occupational alternatives are more prevalent, and the policing of the profession makes it more safe, and the healthcare is more advanced,… well you could likely extend the caption above to “single mother, owner of a red SLK convertible, and both of her children’s college funds are fully funded after three years of effort…” I even know of such a person.
But in this ‘Vegas-context’ some of the erotica your images benefit from is dissolved, because part of this archetypal erotica needs a dash of oppression, and whether it’s true or not, there is a perceived oppression in BKK or other developing countries for the same reason we don’t have similar feelings for the profession in Vegas. So again, romanticising the profession in a developing country is a dark theme and you are bold to take it on Katharina.
I suppose some might not agree this essay is a celebration and you are not romanticising it; it’s just an interesting documentary of a profession. But if the story is so polarised from pity and the emotions we collect seem to be more of beauty, the result of the story will seem something that is moving in a positive way.
Again, Katharina, I think you may create a paradigm shifting piece of work if you take the ‘polarity of pity’ all the way through the essay; and again i’m really keen to see how this story develops.
Kind Regards,
-Joe
http://stupidphotographer.blogspot.com/2008/12/revolutionary.html
Stupid,
thanks for NOT asking for permission before posting the picture !