HUMAN NEGOTIATIONS
HUMAN NEGOTIATIONS: KATHARINA HESSE & LARA DAY
Published by Three Shadows Press and distributed by T&G Publishing
Clothbound hardcover with tipped-in image: 132 pages with over 70 colour photographs. Text: English/Chinese
40 (W) x 29 (D) cm / 16 x 11.5 in.
ISBN: 9789889966799 (13 digit) 9889966794 (10 digit)
With this very handsome publication and Katharina Hesse's tale of prostitution brought alive by writer Lara Day, this is an excellent first book. - Martin Parr, Magnum Photos
In 2007, self-taught Beijing based photographer Katharina Hesse, and writer Lara Day, who lives and works in Bangkok, began working on Human Negotiations, an extensive body of work that would see both photographer and writer immerse themselves in the culture of Bangkok’s various red-light districts. But this collaborative effort, did not opt to approach their subject in the classic journalistic sense, instead Hesse’s vibrant colour documentary photographs, and Day’s fictional vignettes, based on personal interviews, depict women who have made a conscious and considered decision to work in the sex industry.
The collaborative nature of Human Negotiations, extends beyond the relationship between photographer and writer, to include the twenty-four women they photographed and interviewed over the course of three years, during which they made frequent visits to the areas. All of whom had different reasons for entering their chosen profession: there is the mother supporting her young child, who like parents the world over is striving to offer them a better life; a country girl looking to strike it rich in the big city; or a woman seeking freedom and independence.
What Hesse and Day present in Human Negotiations, is a unique and highly personal look at a facet of the sex industry rarely documented before, challenging the perception of women and sex. It is both emotionally powerful and poignant, with its visual rhythm reflecting the lives the women live and the city which forms the backdrop to this story. But it does not seek to answer all the questions raised, instead Hesse and Day present a stepping off point from which a larger dialogue may begin.
The project came into being in 2007, when Hesse and Day met during a photography workshop. Over the course of three years, the pair have returned to Bangkok's red-light districts repeatedly to interview and photograph more than two dozen women.
Human Negotiations is not a journalistic account of the sex trade, but instead a personal interpretation of a line of work that is frequently misunderstood.
To date, the project has garnered international support and been shown at numerous spaces and festivals including the inaugural Arles in Beijing / Caochangdi Photospring, China (2010), the 8th Art Festival Aleppo, Syria (2010) , City of Women:16. Intern. Festival of Contemporary Arts, Slovenia (2010), Noorderlicht Foto Festival, Netherlands (2009), “Summer of Love” , Noorderlicht group exhibition 2009 and Chobi Mela V, Bangladesh (2009). It has also been featured in the pages of photography collector magazines such as EYEmazing and ODP 25 (June 2011), as well as online on E-photoreview.com.
Published by Three Shadows Press and distributed by T&G Publishing
Clothbound hardcover with tipped-in image: 132 pages with over 70 colour photographs. Text: English/Chinese
40 (W) x 29 (D) cm / 16 x 11.5 in.
ISBN: 9789889966799 (13 digit) 9889966794 (10 digit)
With this very handsome publication and Katharina Hesse's tale of prostitution brought alive by writer Lara Day, this is an excellent first book. - Martin Parr, Magnum Photos
In 2007, self-taught Beijing based photographer Katharina Hesse, and writer Lara Day, who lives and works in Bangkok, began working on Human Negotiations, an extensive body of work that would see both photographer and writer immerse themselves in the culture of Bangkok’s various red-light districts. But this collaborative effort, did not opt to approach their subject in the classic journalistic sense, instead Hesse’s vibrant colour documentary photographs, and Day’s fictional vignettes, based on personal interviews, depict women who have made a conscious and considered decision to work in the sex industry.
The collaborative nature of Human Negotiations, extends beyond the relationship between photographer and writer, to include the twenty-four women they photographed and interviewed over the course of three years, during which they made frequent visits to the areas. All of whom had different reasons for entering their chosen profession: there is the mother supporting her young child, who like parents the world over is striving to offer them a better life; a country girl looking to strike it rich in the big city; or a woman seeking freedom and independence.
What Hesse and Day present in Human Negotiations, is a unique and highly personal look at a facet of the sex industry rarely documented before, challenging the perception of women and sex. It is both emotionally powerful and poignant, with its visual rhythm reflecting the lives the women live and the city which forms the backdrop to this story. But it does not seek to answer all the questions raised, instead Hesse and Day present a stepping off point from which a larger dialogue may begin.
The project came into being in 2007, when Hesse and Day met during a photography workshop. Over the course of three years, the pair have returned to Bangkok's red-light districts repeatedly to interview and photograph more than two dozen women.
Human Negotiations is not a journalistic account of the sex trade, but instead a personal interpretation of a line of work that is frequently misunderstood.
To date, the project has garnered international support and been shown at numerous spaces and festivals including the inaugural Arles in Beijing / Caochangdi Photospring, China (2010), the 8th Art Festival Aleppo, Syria (2010) , City of Women:16. Intern. Festival of Contemporary Arts, Slovenia (2010), Noorderlicht Foto Festival, Netherlands (2009), “Summer of Love” , Noorderlicht group exhibition 2009 and Chobi Mela V, Bangladesh (2009). It has also been featured in the pages of photography collector magazines such as EYEmazing and ODP 25 (June 2011), as well as online on E-photoreview.com.
