Ladies In Waiting

Ladies In Waiting-Roni Ben Ari. I am an Israeli female photographer, curator and multimedia Artist. These pictures are part of a photography project documenting prostitution in a number of countries. To date I have photographed in Israel, India, Amsterdam and Russia. The photographs displayed here are classic examples of social photography reflecting society’s margins. My photography continues a tradition of documentary activity that aims to shed light on those individuals we would rather not see: the rejected, the invisible, and the voiceless. In my capacity as a photographer I have chosen to address the subject of prostitution. I became interested in this subject as a result of my volunteer work with a mobile health clinic in Tel Aviv which offers medical care and food to women who work as prostitutes, either on the streets or inside apartments. For example I was able to spend some time in an apartment located in one of the neighborhood apartment buildings. There are no visible outward signs of what takes place behind the closed front door of the apartment in which five prostitutes live and work. In between customers, they go about normal daily routines, eating together, talking, laughing and having fun. Even though I could, I had no interest in photographing the sex acts that went on behind the closed doors. My aim was to position the camera as a mirror to capture what went on in the time in-between customers. In this way, it was possible to see the women as human beings beyond the grotesque use of their bodies.