Snap shots
from sex workers
ZÜRICH BY ROMEO
December 1, 2005 – February 5, 2006
Concurrent with World-Aids-Day on December 1 Widmer+Theodoridis contemporary is presenting photographs from the prevention project ‘Male Sex Work’ of Aids-Help Switzerland. Male sex work is still considered a taboo subject in our society. The goal of the MSW-section (male sex work) of Aids-Help Switzerland is to put into practise the national HIV/Aids-prevention campaign in a pragmatic and efficient way. The MSW project focuses on sex workers without a professional awareness and on foreign or addicted sex workers. These sub-groups usually are hard to be reached through the classic prevention messages.
For this reason MSW invented in co-operation with HERRMANN (the information centre for sex workers in Zurich) the project ‘Zürich by Romeo’. The goal was to facilitate consultation meetings by distributing disposable cameras to sex workers and involving them in the project. Sex workers where asked to shoot a city portrait and then return the cameras with their impressions on the city.
The photographs taken by the sex workers don’t claim any artistic ambition but show a very subjective image of the city. So what is fascinating to them about Zurich? The famous cleanliness? The luxury cars? The up-scale shopping areas? Or did they shoot behing the scenes? Whoever thought to get a voyeuristic glimpse of a colourful, kinky sex worker’s life was surely wrong. Because many of the images seem to be shot at random, boring places. Only at a second glance one could understand why the images were shot there. Most of these images don’t show visitor attractions but the surrounding of places where sex workers were waiting for clients.
The photographs can be acquired. The proceeds return to the MSW project.
For this reason MSW invented in co-operation with HERRMANN (the information centre for sex workers in Zurich) the project ‘Zürich by Romeo’. The goal was to facilitate consultation meetings by distributing disposable cameras to sex workers and involving them in the project. Sex workers where asked to shoot a city portrait and then return the cameras with their impressions on the city.
The photographs taken by the sex workers don’t claim any artistic ambition but show a very subjective image of the city. So what is fascinating to them about Zurich? The famous cleanliness? The luxury cars? The up-scale shopping areas? Or did they shoot behing the scenes? Whoever thought to get a voyeuristic glimpse of a colourful, kinky sex worker’s life was surely wrong. Because many of the images seem to be shot at random, boring places. Only at a second glance one could understand why the images were shot there. Most of these images don’t show visitor attractions but the surrounding of places where sex workers were waiting for clients.
The photographs can be acquired. The proceeds return to the MSW project.
