This latest idea is a major MAYBE, its a long long shot at best because of the need for a large grant, the need for an extended period to shoot it and the overall difficulties and dangers involved The idea is to spend approximately 6 months in Thailand doing around 100 different head shot portraits of the exploited and abused sex workers who work the brothels all over Thailand.
The sex industry all over Asia (not just in Thailand) features illegals, women who are trafficked across borders and sold into brothels to work. These workers are often physically abused and go with 5+ customers a day, they are put into a deep debt that might require years to be free of. I do not have much knowledge of this world, I know the Thai sex tourist world but the local brothel scene for locals is at a whole different level. The sex tourist bars are ugly, the brothels are truly disturbing, the girls work at almost the level of a slave.
The idea would be to do head shot portraits (only tight head shots showing the eyes face, mouth and shoulders) with a blad and ring flash then print them high contrast large, either 15x15 or 19x19. I think a cool told deep black paper would work best. The combination of high contrast and ring flash along with the truth of the individual in the shot would create strong strong photographs. This set up would create a strong and gritty spot like on the worker, they would most often stare directly back at the viewer of the image, eyes meeting eyes. I want to slap the indifferent viewer into giving a shit, into caring, shattering their indifference and hopefully move them to action. Any movement to stop this abhorrent practice is a positive, any positive movement at all is a good thing.Heck work like that might even be strong enough to push for some positive change for these workers.
It always makes me sad and angry to think about the lives of these girls-women, how they are so filled with dreams and hope growing up and then they are thrown into the abyss, they used and abuses for profit and the pleasures of others then when they are all chewed up they are spit out and forgotten. The portraits would at least give them a small voice, or maybe raise awareness help slow down the next generations of workers still not born. To make something important like this is the reason I make photographs, its the reason I try so hard to develop and improve as a documentary photographer and a artist.
I would need to emphasize that this issue-project is not only a Thailand problem but something that happens all over South East Asia and in many other if not all other countries in the world. It would not be a Thailand is bad project story, trafficking people, using and destroying lives is the true story here. I would want these workers in Thai to be a specific representation of universal human rights problem, The Thai brothel workers, probably people from Cambodia, Laos and Burma, would humanize and put a face on a world wide problem.
I would probably borrow an old name for this project as a title, "Lost Innocence". This series would be about lost lives, lost joy, lost love, lost everything so the title seems to fit.
Why this may not work:
1) the subject is very controversial and would probably not get funding, even thou I might try with 3 levels of gov't that provide artist grants (city-municipal, province-provincial, country-national). I doubt I could get a grant for this especially a bigger money grant like I would need. I would use the money to make the pictures, film, paper, maybe travel costs but I think this is to hot an issue to be accepted by the artist grant juries. I would probably need $10000 or more to get this done, so that's pretty much impossible.
2) even if I got the funding I would need to probably quit my job to get it done, it would require at least 3 months and more likely 6 months or even a year to complete. It is a tough think to give up a job of 17+ years. A person like me working security has difficulty finding a decent site to work at and when you do find one you very reluctant to give that up, hence the 17 year thing.
3) it would be dangerous, the police take bribes from the brothel owners, the traffickers also make lots of money. So some guy coming (especially a foreigner) into a Thai only world would be suspected and might be extorted or even physically hurt to be made to stop. Sometimes the police will arrest folks on trumped up or at least exaggerated charges to make a bigger profit in the bribe. You have the brothel owner person, the local corrupt cops and the traffickers, all with vested interest in not bringing to much attention to what they are doing. They want the money, the money is all that matters to them. Anything that gets in the way of them making the money is in danger. Robbery might be another thing to worry about.
4) I would have to go into a 100% Thai world, my Thai language skills are OK but far from fluent so that would be a real challenge. The reason I would choose Thailand to do this would because at least I can communicate half decently, in Laos, Burma, Malaysia, Cambodia etc I would have almost no language skills. Years ago I photographed in Cambodia in a brothel and to do that is dangerous and difficult, I am not sure I could manage that again in a non Thai area.
I could probably deal with numbers 3 and 4 but numbers 1 and 2 would be difficult if not impossible to get past. Going back into that world, with no backup at 50 years old would be tough though and probably quite dangerous. I want to go back and tell those important stories, but being around all that sadness, all that greed and waste, all those lost lives would be very tough.
Below is a photo from that early brothel worker series back in 2003:
The sex industry all over Asia (not just in Thailand) features illegals, women who are trafficked across borders and sold into brothels to work. These workers are often physically abused and go with 5+ customers a day, they are put into a deep debt that might require years to be free of. I do not have much knowledge of this world, I know the Thai sex tourist world but the local brothel scene for locals is at a whole different level. The sex tourist bars are ugly, the brothels are truly disturbing, the girls work at almost the level of a slave.
The idea would be to do head shot portraits (only tight head shots showing the eyes face, mouth and shoulders) with a blad and ring flash then print them high contrast large, either 15x15 or 19x19. I think a cool told deep black paper would work best. The combination of high contrast and ring flash along with the truth of the individual in the shot would create strong strong photographs. This set up would create a strong and gritty spot like on the worker, they would most often stare directly back at the viewer of the image, eyes meeting eyes. I want to slap the indifferent viewer into giving a shit, into caring, shattering their indifference and hopefully move them to action. Any movement to stop this abhorrent practice is a positive, any positive movement at all is a good thing.Heck work like that might even be strong enough to push for some positive change for these workers.
It always makes me sad and angry to think about the lives of these girls-women, how they are so filled with dreams and hope growing up and then they are thrown into the abyss, they used and abuses for profit and the pleasures of others then when they are all chewed up they are spit out and forgotten. The portraits would at least give them a small voice, or maybe raise awareness help slow down the next generations of workers still not born. To make something important like this is the reason I make photographs, its the reason I try so hard to develop and improve as a documentary photographer and a artist.
I would need to emphasize that this issue-project is not only a Thailand problem but something that happens all over South East Asia and in many other if not all other countries in the world. It would not be a Thailand is bad project story, trafficking people, using and destroying lives is the true story here. I would want these workers in Thai to be a specific representation of universal human rights problem, The Thai brothel workers, probably people from Cambodia, Laos and Burma, would humanize and put a face on a world wide problem.
I would probably borrow an old name for this project as a title, "Lost Innocence". This series would be about lost lives, lost joy, lost love, lost everything so the title seems to fit.
Why this may not work:
1) the subject is very controversial and would probably not get funding, even thou I might try with 3 levels of gov't that provide artist grants (city-municipal, province-provincial, country-national). I doubt I could get a grant for this especially a bigger money grant like I would need. I would use the money to make the pictures, film, paper, maybe travel costs but I think this is to hot an issue to be accepted by the artist grant juries. I would probably need $10000 or more to get this done, so that's pretty much impossible.
2) even if I got the funding I would need to probably quit my job to get it done, it would require at least 3 months and more likely 6 months or even a year to complete. It is a tough think to give up a job of 17+ years. A person like me working security has difficulty finding a decent site to work at and when you do find one you very reluctant to give that up, hence the 17 year thing.
3) it would be dangerous, the police take bribes from the brothel owners, the traffickers also make lots of money. So some guy coming (especially a foreigner) into a Thai only world would be suspected and might be extorted or even physically hurt to be made to stop. Sometimes the police will arrest folks on trumped up or at least exaggerated charges to make a bigger profit in the bribe. You have the brothel owner person, the local corrupt cops and the traffickers, all with vested interest in not bringing to much attention to what they are doing. They want the money, the money is all that matters to them. Anything that gets in the way of them making the money is in danger. Robbery might be another thing to worry about.
4) I would have to go into a 100% Thai world, my Thai language skills are OK but far from fluent so that would be a real challenge. The reason I would choose Thailand to do this would because at least I can communicate half decently, in Laos, Burma, Malaysia, Cambodia etc I would have almost no language skills. Years ago I photographed in Cambodia in a brothel and to do that is dangerous and difficult, I am not sure I could manage that again in a non Thai area.
I could probably deal with numbers 3 and 4 but numbers 1 and 2 would be difficult if not impossible to get past. Going back into that world, with no backup at 50 years old would be tough though and probably quite dangerous. I want to go back and tell those important stories, but being around all that sadness, all that greed and waste, all those lost lives would be very tough.
Below is a photo from that early brothel worker series back in 2003:
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| Hung Vietnamese Brothel Sex Worker, Poi Pet Cambodia 2003 |
