In the latest instalment of the global series the photographer travelled to Thailand, where prostitution and the associated industries constitute a sizeable share of the nation's GDP. Cristina de Middel. It is here, in these dark corners hidden away from it all that men of all walks of life find themselves inextricably drawn to a fleeting encounter with a local sex worker.
For all of the stories told time and again, the identity and lives of the clients was all but invisible. The Spanish-Belgian photographer, who now lives between Brazil and Mexico, has always enjoyed subverting the paradigms of the status quo to provide new sources of insight and understanding. The response was overwhelming. With more than people responding willing to participate, de Middel recognized a much larger story unfolding before her eyes.
Adopting a global perspective, de Middel decided to expand the project to cover eight major prostitution hubs on every continent around the world, bar Australasia. Since launching the project in June , de Middel has completed the first leg of her journey: Rio, Havana, Paris, and Bangkok. Plans for Mumbai, Kiev or Moscow, Las Vegas, and Lagos are on deck, with de Middel focused on the key cities where photographers have traditionally gone to make stories about prostitution.
This August, de Middel returned from a three-week trip to Bangkok — a city where prostitution flourishes despite being de jure illegal. The red light districts of Bangkok cater to any number of penchants and propensities inside the brothels, massage parlors, restaurants, and specialty bars. Here, de Middel took a different approach to finding subjects. De Middel got her start on the project after meeting an art handler at Photo Bankgok known for discussing his dalliances.
Together, they took a taxi to an area that services local men. Along the way, they struck up a conversation with their driver, who himself agreed to participate. It was like pulling a thread. In Bangkok, de Middel worked with a translator to explain the idea of project to the men. Then, after signing a model release, she showed them examples from previous shoots so that they understand the concept of her work.
