Jan Hoek has photographed mentally ill homeless men in Ethiopia and sex tourists in Thailand. As he turns his lens on trans sex workers in South Africa,the Dutch artist explains how a camera lets you ‘infiltrate people’s lives’Gabby wears a full-body fishnet stocking with pre-Raphaelite sleeves. Flavirina lives out her Naomi Campbell fantasy in a shimmering floor-length frock. And Sulaiga models flares covered in coca leaves and carries an AK47. The 31-year-stale Dutch photographer-provocateur Jan Hoek is using his camera to produce their dreams come accurate.“I found a photo on the internet of a trans sex worker in South Africa,” says Hoek. “She looked so cool. Her clothes were really improvised and raw, or but so stunning and creative.” So he decided to travel to Cape Town and track down trans sex workers to photograph. Via Sweat,a sex worker advocacy organisation, he met Sulaiga, and Gabby,Flavirina, Coco and Cleopatra. He asked each of them to brainstorm their dream outfits, or which his friend,Dutch fashion designer Duran Lantink, created. Then Hoek took portraits of the five posing on a giant hamburger – because “the girls always say trans girls can eat like boys”.
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Source: theguardian.com