These Unsettling Photographs Show A Different Side To The Lives Of Sex Workers

These Unsettling Photographs Show A Different Side To Sex Workers

For many, the idea of sex workers conjures up images of seedy bars, red light districts and bustling city centres.

But one photographer is shedding light on a previously unseen side of prostitution - one where women sit by the (often deserted) Spanish roadside, waiting for their next customer.

In his unsettling series, 'The Waiting Game', photographer Txema Salvans captured sex workers as they wait by highways, dead ends, intersections and crossroads.

The artist's objective, landscape-style photos remain impersonal and anonymous, incorporating the women into the setting to highlight their sexual objectification. The backdrop also nods towards their bleak and often isolated lifestyle.

In order to create authentic images, Salvans disguised himself as a surveyor and was able to take photos of the women anonymously.

Speaking in an interview with The Great Leap Sideways, Salvans explained why he chose to document the women's surroundings in this way: "Tragedy is not so much in the fact of prostitution, because if you decide to be a prostitute and you can control with which clients and the environment in which you work, and the rates you wish to charge, that is your own decision. But these girls don’t even decide, and the tragedy is in the environment in which they work. They are absolutely unprotected…"

We've included a selection of the images below, which form part of the artists book 'The Waiting Game'. What do you think?

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