Found this today. Seems some Havard person saw my photographs before going to Thailand and wrote this article. The writers name is Iris Feng, it was written last year March 2016.
Check out her piece here:
https://issuu.com/hcapchulabkk/docs/iris_feng
Will have to print out the 3 pages next week for my records.
Just read a bit of it before sleeping, I like how it starts, wonder how it ends? Glad the "Sex Worker on White" series continues to have a positive influence. Maybe this is a sign I should do more sex work related portraits-photographs in the future. Should I do some next trip? It is so difficult to enter that seedy world again, I like the garbage dump and my friends there much more. I should at least include more of the Sex Worker on white portraits in the the "Tears of a Butterfly" exhibition magazine. I think I only have 4 portraits included so far, out of the hundreds of photos I made over 3 shooting trips in 2007-09-12. I need to find my scans and include 20 or 30 more sex worker on white portraits.
Why is it that only time people see my photographs is when they "STUMBLE UPON THEM?" I find that so frustrating. I need to get a book published, several books published. I need to get the work seen in more high end galleries and museums. I need to get the work exhibited nationally and internationally. I need to, I have to tell my stories to larger and larger audiences. The subjects voices must be heard! No more stumbling upon them please!!
Here is the beginning of Miss Feng's article;
"When I found out that I was going to Thailand for HCAP 2016, a few notions sprang to mind. Besides being the Land of Smiles, Thailand is often notoriously portrayed by the media as a destination of sex tourism. Before arriving in Bangkok, I did some research on Thailand's sex industry and stumbled across a series of photographs by a Canadian photographer Gerry Yaum. In his exhibition "Body Sellers: The Sex Workers of Thailand." Yaum documented the lives of sex workers in Pattaya, a city that expanded into sex industry after the Vietnam War to maintain the flow of tourists and profits. The simplicity of each photograph magnifies the emotion and visual appearance of the subject. As Yaum explains. "there is nowhere for the viewer to hide. They must confront the subject(s)" which include male, female and ladyboy sex workers. When I saw these image, the vulnerability, shame and hope in the gaze of the subjects made me feel helpless. I wondered what each individual's story was like, yet I feared to discover the harsh reality."
Check out her piece here:
https://issuu.com/hcapchulabkk/docs/iris_feng
Will have to print out the 3 pages next week for my records.
Just read a bit of it before sleeping, I like how it starts, wonder how it ends? Glad the "Sex Worker on White" series continues to have a positive influence. Maybe this is a sign I should do more sex work related portraits-photographs in the future. Should I do some next trip? It is so difficult to enter that seedy world again, I like the garbage dump and my friends there much more. I should at least include more of the Sex Worker on white portraits in the the "Tears of a Butterfly" exhibition magazine. I think I only have 4 portraits included so far, out of the hundreds of photos I made over 3 shooting trips in 2007-09-12. I need to find my scans and include 20 or 30 more sex worker on white portraits.
Why is it that only time people see my photographs is when they "STUMBLE UPON THEM?" I find that so frustrating. I need to get a book published, several books published. I need to get the work seen in more high end galleries and museums. I need to get the work exhibited nationally and internationally. I need to, I have to tell my stories to larger and larger audiences. The subjects voices must be heard! No more stumbling upon them please!!
Here is the beginning of Miss Feng's article;
"When I found out that I was going to Thailand for HCAP 2016, a few notions sprang to mind. Besides being the Land of Smiles, Thailand is often notoriously portrayed by the media as a destination of sex tourism. Before arriving in Bangkok, I did some research on Thailand's sex industry and stumbled across a series of photographs by a Canadian photographer Gerry Yaum. In his exhibition "Body Sellers: The Sex Workers of Thailand." Yaum documented the lives of sex workers in Pattaya, a city that expanded into sex industry after the Vietnam War to maintain the flow of tourists and profits. The simplicity of each photograph magnifies the emotion and visual appearance of the subject. As Yaum explains. "there is nowhere for the viewer to hide. They must confront the subject(s)" which include male, female and ladyboy sex workers. When I saw these image, the vulnerability, shame and hope in the gaze of the subjects made me feel helpless. I wondered what each individual's story was like, yet I feared to discover the harsh reality."
