After reading the Iris Feng article yesterday. I have come to believe that my sex worker portrait work is too important to stop. I need to keep at it, and enter that world again. Not matter how difficult it is I need to continue to tell those stories. This part of write up, struck me the hardest.
"When I saw these image, the vulnerability, shame and hope in the gaze of the subjects made me feel helpless. I wondered what each individuals story was like, yet I feared to discover the harsh reality."
The photos I made at that time have achieved their goals, I need to continue to chase those types of images down. I need to continue the sex worker portrait photography in some new way. I will need to take some kind of flash camera with me to Asia next trip so that I can photograph the bar workers. Their activity is night based so some kind of flash system is mandatory, without it I will be severely handicapped in my shooting.
I can think of 6 options off hand:
- Contax G2 with flash (used for the Poipet brothel shots of 2003)
- Mamiya 6 camera with flash (used this system in Asia in 1999, 2003)
- Banarama 4x5 camera with flash (used for the 2008 Ladyboy series photos)
- Hasselblad with ring flash (used for a series of sex worker shots in 2010)
- Plaubel Makina 67 with flash (a new compact 120mm camera I own)
- Rollieflex with flash (having loading problems with those cameras)
Right now I am leaning towards the Plaubel Makina, like its 6x7 format and compactness. I cannot focus that camera very close thou, which I sometimes like to do. I will think what works best for me and take some kind of flash-camera combo to Asia next trip.
I need to continue this body of work. I still feel haunted by some of the memories from the brothel in Poipet Cambodia. I might never escape and keep photographing this subject the rest of my life. Fate? Desinty? Obsession? Not sure but I seemed locked into this set of sex worker portraits forever.
Iris Feng Havard HCAP Blog
Here is a selection of quick google search (GERRY YAUM SEX WORKER) images. I put the year next to the picture, as best I recall. Everything was done with a variety of different gear as mentioned above. All the photos below used some type of flash/film/camera combo.
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| 2012 |
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| 2009 |
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| 2007 |
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| 2007 |
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| 2009 |
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| 2012 |
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| 2007 |
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| 2007 |
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| 2008 |
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| 1999 |
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| 2009 |
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| 2008 |
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| 2009 |
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| 2009 |
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| 2009 |
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| 1999 |
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| 2003 |
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| 2009 |
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| 2009 |
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| 2007 |
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| 2003 |
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| 2003 |
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| 2003 |
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| 2009 |
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| 2008 |
