Girls
People, third prize stories
August 3, 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.
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Tatiana Vinogradova
Russia
Tatiana Vinogradova is a freelance photographer based in St. Petersburg, Russia.
About the photographer
Tatiana Vinogradova
Tatiana Vinogradova is a freelance photographer based in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Tatiana Vinogradova is a freelance photographer based in St. Petersburg, Russia.
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 evolving her interest and passion for portraiture, and currently she is working as a portrait and documentary photographer.
Tatiana's works have received recognition, winning prestigious awards on a number of professional contests including POYI, NPPA's Best of Photojournalism, Atlanta Photojournalism Contest, CPOY, and Pride Photo Award. Also she was a finalist at Contour by Getty Images Portrait Prize and Kuala Lumpur International Portrait Prize.
Tatiana exhibited her photographs in galleries and festivals internationally including the Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki, Photoville Festival in New York, Pride Photo Award Exhibition in Amsterdam, Kuala Lumpur Portrait Exhibition, Diffusion Festival in Cardiff and Hellerau Portrait Award Exhibition in Dresden.
In her personal work Tatiana focuses on contemporary issues and social injustice in Russia. Her projects dedicated to LGBT community, political prisoners and patients with mental disorders are aimed at increasing tolerance and changing public attitude towards stigmatized groups.
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