The Sex Worker Series was by far the hardest photography project I have undertaken from a physically demanding standpoint. By the time I got all my gear packed I had 3 overweight check in bags of 70 pounds a piece as well as 2 overweight carry on bags of close to 30 pounds each. I had to transport all this equipment from Edmonton Canada to Thailand in hopefully one piece! It was an exhausting adventure.
Dealing with airport security coming and going was also very difficult, especially trying to explain to the screeners what 8x10 sheet film was, at times I felt like I was speaking a different language based on the blank looks I got. The worst of the bunch were in Vancouver, the screeners in South Korea and in Thailand were quite good but dealing with the people in Vancouver was a nightmare.
When I got to Thailand I had to find a apartment that was of a reasonable size (to set everything up) and also one that had a reliable power source (so my 4800 watt Speedotron flash would not blow circuits), another key was it had to be close to where I could find my subjects so that traveling time would be less.
When I had everything set up I was free to start making photographs. I had a short timeline of about 4 weeks to make the pictures in, this meant I had to find people that would be strong photographic subjects (hold a wall as Richard Avedon said), ask them to pose for me and then set up appointments for the shoots(appointments that were not always kept)and shoot all my film in 4 weeks,a tiring task. I ended up doing 19-8x10 photographs per session and 8-5x7s. By the end of the 4 week period I had photographed about 26 people onto over 600 sheets of 8x10 film and 250 sheets of 5x7.
All the effort was worth it in the end because I was quite happy with the results.The next goal is to finish processing the work and get a show. A show is important not because I am seeking any kind of personal success garbage but because it is important to tell the story of the people I photographed, they are what matters and I owe them. They trusted me to tell their stories and I owe them the right to be remembered, it is my responsibility to them.
