2018 Photo Contest, People, 3rd prize

Girls

Photographer

Tatiana Vinogradova

03 August, 2017

Asya (30) moved to St Petersburg from Vladivostok in 2013. After dropping out of a course in mechanical engineering and going through a number of jobs, she ended up working as a janitor. Because the pay was so low, she sought work in the sex trade.

Sex workers pictured in their apartments, in St Petersburg, Russia. Official statistics say that there are one million sex workers in Russia. Silver Rose, a St Petersburg NGO, puts that at closer to three million, with more than 50,000 women working in St Petersburg alone. Prostitution is illegal in Russia, and though fines are not large (about €28) women are vulnerable to extortion because they fear the consequences of having a criminal record.

According to Silver Rose, despite the stereotypical view of sex workers, only a small percentage have taken to prostitution because they are addicts or living in extreme poverty. The decline of the Russian economy has led to a growing number of women—many over the age of 35—who have lost jobs in such fields as business or education becoming sex workers.

About the photographer

Tatiana Vinogradova

She studied journalism at St. Petersburg State University. Prior to her career in photography, Tatiana worked as a creative director in advertising. Since 2014 she has been evolv...

Technical information

Shutter Speed
1/250
Focal length
35.0 mm
F-Stop
1.4
ISO
100

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