Swedish photographer Gerhard Joren set out in a police jeep to brothels in
district.
done very little research when I started the project… but I knew I had to
give it time”, he says of the slow, delicate process of building
relationships with the sex workers who were his subjects, writes the Australian
daily Brisbane Times.
careful to analyse my situations, to find an ally – a medium – with access. Someone
who could help me develop trust. Because without the trust, you have nothing”.
describes how he would spend hours talking to the men and women he encountered,
how showing them their photos helped to get them on side and cross the
threshold into the most private of moments.
depict scenes familiar to a worldwide audience saturated with images of the sex
trade; half naked Thai women stripping for Western tourists, American hookers’
pole dancing at a
brothel, a Dutch prostitute shooting up in the street.
pictures included in First Deadly Sin also depict prostitutes playing with
their children, people of sex communes drinking from coffee mugs and reading
magazines.
not wasn’t to further exploit anyone – I was scrupulous about getting
permission from my subjects”, Joren explains.
course, you can never not exploit – I mean in the sense that if you’re going to
do a very basic portrait of a person it can be misunderstood”.
