Long 25 Female Sex Worker, Thailand 2007

After thinking more about your work, I have to backtrack on my previous use of the word "pronographic". I tend to agree more with JMcLaugh351 who used the word "vulgar". Maybe "pathetic" is more appropriate.

I guess what I'm saying is that your work has evoked an emotional response in me. And such is the purpose of art.


From that standpoint, your images are successful. It's just not my cup of tea. But, then, I should just "get over it".

Sorry for my previous "knee jerk" reaction and poorly worded comments.

----------------------------

Jim thanks for your response. The life these people live is pathetic and vulgar. I think if your making photos of something that is pathetic and vulgar if you pretty it up your sort of doing the subject a disservice.

I like your work, Gerry. Especially these new ones with the white background; they're very Richard Avedon, who cares if these people aren't the rich and famous that Avedon photographed? I find them interesting and would be interested in a book of your images if you manage to get one published.

------------------------------------

AKK, thanks for your kind words, been thinking about possibly doing a book on this subject in the future, but I need to shoot more and make better images first, there is also that little issue of actually finding someone that would be interested in publishing it.

"come across as a rich westerners images who goes to Asia for sexual thrills then posts on apug to receive some validation to your exploitive actions. Some guys take the sex workers to backrooms to fuck them, you take them there to photograph them."

------------------------------------------
Stephen

I think we all bring our own hearts to the images we view and that if you are getting a sexual thrill from the images then that is more a reflection of you than of me.

As to validation, have you read some of the comments? far from validating. I come to APUG for one reason, to learn and improve my photography (it is a very simple concept, people here know photography, people here help others with their photography). I have sold some of this work to two serious collectors (1-16x20 and 3-20x24), so I get my validation from being involved in their collections.

Why photograph sex workers? because it is important to find a subject that captures your heart, many of the top photographers are known for certain subjects. I find that at the moment what holds my heart is trying to understand the lives and feelings of people that are involved in the sex industry.

The first person I met in the scene was back in 1996, I learned so much from her about the life, her story drew me deep into trying to understand that world. I initially identified more with the female workers (there sadness, and underlying goodness) but eventually I was drawn to also try to photograph the male and ladyboy workers. This coming trip I want to mostly photograph male workers.

To understand that world better, I learned to speak passable Thai, I learned to read and write in Thai and also have been studying Buddhism, culture and the history of South East Asia. The sex worker images led to the other stuff, the more I learn the more I want to know. In the future I am thinking of doing a project called Khon Thai (The Thai People) which would be a wider story of the people of Thailand. Check it out if your interested:

http://gerryyaum.blogspot.com/2009/03/dignity-in-portrait.html
http://gerryyaum.blogspot.com/2009/03/adding-more-humanity.html

The images are unoriginal, stale and all too repetitive.
-----------------------------
Stephen I forgot this part of your critique. I agree they are repetitive (something I am working on improving) as to unoriginal I beg to differ, I think the technique involved is not terribly original but the combination of technique and subject is.

Avedon- 360mm lens
- Available light (In the American West) or umbrella with harsh
shadows/directional light in studio.
- Americans in the west, or celebrities (rare nudity)

Me - 300mm lens
- 2 large softboxes in studio (soft flat light)
- Asian Sex Workers, male, female, ladyboys (nudity)

xx