The ‘Not Natasha’ exhibition is moving and upsetting but an issue that needs to be brought to light. Creating an awareness of sex trafficking of young girls taken and forced into a life of misery.
As I explored the exhibition my eyes fell upon a lady, sorrow and desperation exhumed from her tearful face.
This image shows an older woman standing in front of a backdrop of a waterfall, she is holding a small photograph of a girl out stretched in front of herself. This image displays bright colours and with the waterfall backdrop there is a contrast between a setting of tranquillity and peace opposing the older lady whom is quite the opposite in emotion.
The backdrop in this image holds many linear sections with the woman standing very central against it but keeping the waterfall in full view. This only aids in the contrast of her emotions and the emotions that attempt to combat with the woman we see. One can suggest that this is a way of depicting the truth about sex traffic and the disguise of this from those that appose.
Although one can only make assumptions on this image as to the meaning behind it I believe that we can safely suggest that the small photograph we see the woman holding is one of her daughter, a daughter that was taken from her mother for use in sex trafficking. When I gaze through the gates to the soul this woman draws out of me raw emotion, pain, suffering and a lose only a parent can feel. I know that what I feel will fade as I go about my life but for this one lonely lady hers has been unlawfully taken from her. A search that will never end for her until the loved one is returned or until this woman’s dying day.
As much as this image alongside the accompanying images of the exhibition needs to be seen in the public eye I find myself upset, angry and most of all thankful that things have taken a shift forward in the motion to have this abuse ended. This issue does not only lie in the poorest countries of the world but are still very much present on our doorstep. The streets of Soho hold dark secrets that will unravel as time and attention moves this issue into the light. Those that have been thrust into a way of life no-one should ever have to live will be freed but the question is how long must they wait, till enough people care to help liberate them.
Sarah Johnson
Sunday 28 March 2010
Thursday 25 March 2010
Dana Popa Review
This image shows a colour photograph of a girl and a man leaning against a red car, the girl wears white and is slightly overexposed due to the sun shining on her, making her prominent in the photograph. The man is pouring a drink and wears swimming trunks. The car is parked under a patch of trees with the sun streaming through the branches. This photograph almost fills the frame of Popa’s image but for a glimpse of the dark wooden surface it sits on and the bare wall it is propped against. The photograph is slightly cropped by the framing of the image at the right and on the left there is a dark gap, this framing places the girl in the centre of the image.
The photograph is from a body of work titled not Natasha that documents the experiences of sex-trafficked women from Moldova and the families who await their return. The girl in this image was sex-trafficked but is believed to have escaped, the photograph in the image can now be understood as a family photograph from the past. By photographing this photograph Popa emphasizes the distance of the girl in the original image; it is a trace of a trace, the girl is not tangible but it is as if her existence is validated by this image. In his essay Beyond the Lens Mark Sealy wrote that ‘The portraits of those who can only wait and the photographs they cling to – of those that have been trafficked – become tragic icons of hope, as the person who has departed will never again fit the image that is held up for us to observe.’ This poignant observation is a succinct description of the intention of this image.
Popa shot this image on 35mm colour film and printed it quite large for the exhibition. Mark Sealy wrote that the use of colour was a ‘deliberate turn away from the gritty and distant realism associated with black-and-white documentary photography. Colour brings the viewer closer to the victim and effectively closes the distance between them and us.’ The use of fine quality prints and the gallery as a stage for this harrowing topic has its ethical issues but I personally feel that this form of presentation fits the type of image being shown. The photographs are quiet, not acting as evidence or proof but as ‘signifiers of emptiness, waiting, emotional damage and external harm.’ (Mark Sealy) The images are strangely more compelling for not being forced; the time Popa spent building relationships with the girls and the families is evident and there is an openness about the exhibition that allows a viewer to spend time with the images, there is nothing frantic about them, which makes the experience of looking at them somehow more real.
Freya Kruczenyk
Dana Pope Exhibition at the Impressions Gallery, Bradford.
Dana Pope's work, 'Not Natasha', is a series of images which have been shot since 2006, while Pope was in the Republic of Moldova, documenting the experiences of sex trafficked women, and their famillies.
Pope has created a somber feeling by combining light and dark with a muted, limited, and not overly saturated colour palette. From what we can see from this scene, the surroundings are in relative disrepair. The curtains we can see are tatty, dirt and stains are apparent on the floor and walls, and the bed has no sheets or coverings on its battered matress. The presence of a bed in the frame with a discarded object on it, conveys the topic that the photographer is considering clearly. Not only that, but even though the subject is somewhat seperate from the bed, it still remains lined up with her line of sight.
We are clearly given a sense of voyerism, and of looking 'in' upon a private life - the subject seems unaware of the camera, and distracted by something she is looking at in her hands, just out of the frame. Not only that, but the pose of the subject - knees pressed together and leaning forward to view the object in her hands, rather than relaxed or outstretched, conveys a sense of concern and contemplation. The combination of this sense of contemplation, combined with the direction of the subject's gaze, leads us to believe the two separate subjects (the girl, and the bed) are somehow tied together in the girl's thoughts. The large amount of dark space around the girl in the image draws our attention to her, and leaves space for her thoughts, and the thoughts the viewer holds about her.
It is clear that the photographer has separated us, the viewers, from the subject of the image. not only is the subject placed far away in the distance in the frame, but she is placed inside what is seen as another room, or perhaps a reflection in a mirror. Also, this choice of framing conveys a sense of good and evil - the placement of light and dark within the frame plunges our subject into a constrained space in which she is surrounded by darkness.
As with many of the images in Pope's series, it is not the identity or nature of the woman in the image which is the focus, but rather the situation and location in which the photographer is documenting her. The realtive annonimity of the subject leads the viewer to think more about the place and situation we are being shown, than the subject herself. This photograph is a strong example of the ways in which Pope has approached her documentation of the eastern European sex trade.
Maria Galvin
Kirsty Garland
As with most of the images in this series, it is not immediately obvious from the content alone that the female subject is, or was, a sex worker. However, once the viewer is made aware of this fact various connotations are obvious. Despite the fact that the woman appears to be sleeping, the clinical nature of the tiled walls and floors, combined with the crisp, white sheet draped over her are reminiscent of a morgue, hinting at a possible outcome for many of these women. The pink slippers or sandals on the floor are the only personable objects, reminding the viewer of her humanity, regardless of her otherwise sparse surroundings. Her hair and a glimpse of the side of her face are the only context we have for what she looks like, allowing the viewer to project their own opinions onto her – a faceless metaphor for the women who share her plight.
While the innocuous act of sleeping could be intended to show her vulnerability, there are poignant connotations to her previous line of work, and the viewer can almost imagine a client hidden from view behind the line of her body. The image is, in many ways, a contrast between two opposing messages. On the one hand Popa appears to go to pains to show her subject’s humanity and fragility, drawing the viewer’s sympathy for a tangible victim. However the cloaked body and faceless cascade of hair suggest she is one of many statistics, a ghost who slipped through societies net to become a nameless representation of prostitution.
The image highlights how foreign her situation is to the viewer in many ways. We can vaguely imagine what she’s been through, but without having been there ourselves, we are a million miles away from understanding it. This puts a distance between her and the viewer that Popa strives to lesson by depicting her in the simple, human act of sleeping. The small bed, reminiscent of that of a child’s places her currant situation at the other end of the spectrum from prostitution – the innocence of childhood. These two contradicting elements to the image serve to remind the viewer that her profession was not her own choice, and does not reflect any aspect of her personality.
The image is shot in colour, probably largely to depict the reality of the situation in a realistic rather than stylized manner. Despite the muted colours of the sheets and tiles that surround her, the injection of pink in her sandals and highlights of red in her hair allow us to see her femininity, proving that regardless of the traumas she’s suffered, she still retains her own personality and identity.
This photo is an image of a telephone and childrens toys and some lists left for someone. the image has a regressive depth of field its very sharp at the front of the photo and at the back its very blurry.the objects are on a decorative antique worktop and there is a light switch on the wall. the light is coming from the left and fading towards the right of the photo. although it is not obvious at first this image shows alot about human trafficking. it shows the kind of people who are involoved women and childrenare involved closely with human trafficking this is an example of the groteseque nature of human trafficking it raises the issues of exposing children to this kind of sexual content and how wrong this whole thing is. the notes and texts are example of how the women still try and live normal lives writing notes and still trying to lead an everyday life in this awful situation.
the image compositionally is interesting because the soft focus draws you into the image. the rule of thirds is present in this photo with the desk going one third into photo and the wall taking up two thirds of the image.the attention to details are so evident in this photo and that is why i think its such a powerful image.
The pain of others... Anne-Marie Atkinson
The pain of others…
Anne-Marie Atkinson
Among the harrowing, though non-explicit, images of scarred arms, red-light price lists, dingy bedrooms decorated with pornographic cut-outs, ram-shackle houses and women struggling to regain their lives, one little old lady strikes a meaningful chord.
Dana Popa’s current exhibition, not Natasha, at Bradford Impressions Gallery from 5th Fed until 18th April 2010, brings the disgusting abuses experienced by Eastern European girls who are tricked and trafficked into enforced prostitution into the public forum. A series of surrounding events and lectures, coinciding with the 100th Anniversary of International Woman’s Day, have furthered the push of ABP, who funded the project, to bring these issues into debate, using Popa’s work as an illustration.
To enrich the power of the work there are 3 clear strands within it: the girls themselves (escapees, recovering in women's shelters), the spaces that trafficked girls work in (brothel bedrooms in Soho) and the spaces the girls have let behind. With up to 50% of the female population of Moldova victims of trafficking at any one time, the magnitude of these spaces is a daunting prospect, almost inconceivable to those in Western Europe. Whole villages left bare of female presence; children with missing mothers; mothers with missing daughters… The image of Tanya, which itself contains another image, shows exactly this.
Denoting a fake, poster backdrop of an idyllic waterfall scene disturbingly incongruous with the subject matter, Tanya looks directly camera with a complex expression. She ponders her missing daughter, the image of which she holds tenderly in her hand, and at first there is sadness. Continue to gaze into her tear-brimmed eyes and a glimmer of hope is revealed, at being given the opportunity to tell her story. Finally the stillness of the image, which the backdrop accentuates, connotes a sense of acceptance, possibly of the worst. This static image produces peaks and troughs of emotion, but we can only be left asking, in the words of Mark Sealy, “What will become of them?”
The headscarf worn by Tanya and the way in which she holds her hands forward is reminiscent of religious imagery: nuns clutching rosaries. This links to another photograph in the exhibition denoting images of Mary, Jesus and angels on a girl’s dresser, which is more like a shrine. The connotation of the innocence and benevolence of the victims, and turning to God out of faith and desperation when the worst happens, furthers the power behind the project.
With only Tanya in focus and the image of her daughter Alexeeva excluded from the shallow depth of field, we are drawn entirely into the emotion of the subject. Unlike many of the other images in the exhibition, which put focus on the horrors experienced by the girls themselves, this image asks us to consider from an alternative point of view, the pain of others.
Human trafficking is a global industry, the most lucrative illegal business amassing more wealth each year than the drug trade (estimated at minimum $12 billion), and so the scope of those affected by it must clearly be huge. The invitation to consider the range of its impact seems new, complex, although entirely relevant.
Anne-Marie Atkinson
Among the harrowing, though non-explicit, images of scarred arms, red-light price lists, dingy bedrooms decorated with pornographic cut-outs, ram-shackle houses and women struggling to regain their lives, one little old lady strikes a meaningful chord.
Dana Popa’s current exhibition, not Natasha, at Bradford Impressions Gallery from 5th Fed until 18th April 2010, brings the disgusting abuses experienced by Eastern European girls who are tricked and trafficked into enforced prostitution into the public forum. A series of surrounding events and lectures, coinciding with the 100th Anniversary of International Woman’s Day, have furthered the push of ABP, who funded the project, to bring these issues into debate, using Popa’s work as an illustration.
To enrich the power of the work there are 3 clear strands within it: the girls themselves (escapees, recovering in women's shelters), the spaces that trafficked girls work in (brothel bedrooms in Soho) and the spaces the girls have let behind. With up to 50% of the female population of Moldova victims of trafficking at any one time, the magnitude of these spaces is a daunting prospect, almost inconceivable to those in Western Europe. Whole villages left bare of female presence; children with missing mothers; mothers with missing daughters… The image of Tanya, which itself contains another image, shows exactly this.
Denoting a fake, poster backdrop of an idyllic waterfall scene disturbingly incongruous with the subject matter, Tanya looks directly camera with a complex expression. She ponders her missing daughter, the image of which she holds tenderly in her hand, and at first there is sadness. Continue to gaze into her tear-brimmed eyes and a glimmer of hope is revealed, at being given the opportunity to tell her story. Finally the stillness of the image, which the backdrop accentuates, connotes a sense of acceptance, possibly of the worst. This static image produces peaks and troughs of emotion, but we can only be left asking, in the words of Mark Sealy, “What will become of them?”
The headscarf worn by Tanya and the way in which she holds her hands forward is reminiscent of religious imagery: nuns clutching rosaries. This links to another photograph in the exhibition denoting images of Mary, Jesus and angels on a girl’s dresser, which is more like a shrine. The connotation of the innocence and benevolence of the victims, and turning to God out of faith and desperation when the worst happens, furthers the power behind the project.
With only Tanya in focus and the image of her daughter Alexeeva excluded from the shallow depth of field, we are drawn entirely into the emotion of the subject. Unlike many of the other images in the exhibition, which put focus on the horrors experienced by the girls themselves, this image asks us to consider from an alternative point of view, the pain of others.
Human trafficking is a global industry, the most lucrative illegal business amassing more wealth each year than the drug trade (estimated at minimum $12 billion), and so the scope of those affected by it must clearly be huge. The invitation to consider the range of its impact seems new, complex, although entirely relevant.

The image I have chosen from Dana Pope’s ‘Not Natasha’ was shot with 35mm. It shows a battered gas cooker, and behind a net curtain their is a young woman holding a baby. The cooker is in focus with the netting, but behind it is all out of focus. The girl and baby are staring at an open door, which just looks like one big rectangle of light, this gives the image good natural lighting. The colors are split down the middle of the photo, the cooker’s side is dirty and dark while the other side is lighter, more softer colouring.
I find it interesting that the girl and baby are further away and unfocussed. I feel that the dirty oven being in focus gives the photo a grim, dark sense about it. There is a sadness present that wouldn’t usually be in an image with a mother and baby, it would usually be happy.
I understand the main theme is escaped women from the sex trafficking industry so this tells me the baby she is holding is a consequence of it. They are free now, they are looking at an open door, but the dirt and the grime will always be memories ‘behind the curtain’.
I know the artist had to build intimate relationships with these girls, and they eventually opened to her, so I feel this makes this photograph more intense.
Sex trafficking in Molodov is as common as 10% of the women being taken against their own will- these photos are only the escaped ones. Some photos from the set show areas where girls that are still missing lived, so Dana Pope is trying to give us the message that this is still going on.
I especially liked this image for it’s half dark/half light composition and one half in focus. It is like a visual metaphor of the story behind the image. They are free in this shot, but the focussed half that is dirty and dim is showing what the truth is, it is portraying the two worlds, but the dark is there first and the clearest.
Amy Cochrane
Dana Popa - Not Natasha
This image is from Dana Popa’s ‘Not Natasha’ series.
The image is a colour photograph and shows a woman leaning on a desk in front of a book that appears to be a scrap book of sorts, containing writing and pictures stuck in, possibly a type of diary. Natural lighting has been used, there is a window in the image and possibly another one just out of shot where the light is coming in from the outside. The colours are quite muted and make the image difficult to date without further knowledge.
From a technical point of view I love the composition of the image, the way the woman is leaning right into the left hand side of the frame and also the reflection in the table of the woman’s hand and face and also of the window.
Without the background knowledge it is obvious that the woman is distressed, possibly crying, maybe the book in front of her has something to do with that?
Knowing that the series of images are taken in a centre set up to help women who have been forced into sex trafficking, gives the image a whole different level. It makes you wonder if the woman, due to her history, is in a constant state of depression, or whether the photographer caught her at a particularly vulnerable moment, and used this image to emphasise her point. The title of the series ‘Not Natasha’ relates to the name often given to Eastern European looking prostitutes, the woman hate it.
This image, and the series as a whole, I think is a very strong portrayal of this rarely mentioned or highlighted crime. It is obviously terrible situations that these women have found themselves in and something that obviously needs to be stopped, hopefully this series can do something to help by documenting and highlighting their struggle back into leading normal lives, and bringing it to the public’s attention.
Joe Creffield
Dana Popa Review by Deri.
We are informed that the exhibition 'Not Natasha' was made over the last four years. Dana Popa's photagraphic series documents the lives of sex trafficked women from Moldova. We are told that Natasha is the name given to Eastern European looking prostitutes, we are also told they hate it. Popa's images are all of former sex slaves who have survived to tell their stories, this review will be dealing with the aesthetic and photographic merits of the work and will NOT be a critique on sex trafficking.
The image i have chosen to critique shows green grassy expanse with two young women reclining back and smoking cigarettes. The grass in the foreground is not in focus and the object of our focus is drawn to the first women, her head is resting on a pillow or towel and her gaze is directed skyward. Her face shows the faintest vestige of a smile and she has a slightly wistful look in her eyes. The whole image has a tranquil dreamy quality to feel, simply two friends relaxing in the park, smoking and watching the world go by with not a care in the world.
Within the context of the series we learn that the women have escaped their life of bondage and sexual servitude and reside in shelters away from their previous sex trafficked existence. This changes the way we read the image, and adds a certain poignancy, the look on the womans face is transformed into one of deep enjoyment for a longed day, we are invited to imagine the many times she has stared vacantly at the ceiling whilst with a 'client' perhaps envisioning the very view she is enjoying now.
As a series i found 'Not Natasha' wholly unremarkable, resorting as it did to hackneyed cliched tugs on our heartstrings. For me there was nothing that set these images apart, and in fact the style and format is now so familiar that repetition of these signs has stripped them of meaning. Images such as these are so prevalent that their power is negated and they simply become an addition to the morass of cliched imagery surrounding this topic. Indeed these images could have been stills from any number of Channel 5 documentaries such is the well worn visual path down which they tread.
This is not to say that I advocate any facet of this vile and abhorrent form of slavery, more that i take issue with lazy photographic practice which seems to me to build wholly on the stereotype it is attempting to illustrate and dispel.
The image i have chosen to critique shows green grassy expanse with two young women reclining back and smoking cigarettes. The grass in the foreground is not in focus and the object of our focus is drawn to the first women, her head is resting on a pillow or towel and her gaze is directed skyward. Her face shows the faintest vestige of a smile and she has a slightly wistful look in her eyes. The whole image has a tranquil dreamy quality to feel, simply two friends relaxing in the park, smoking and watching the world go by with not a care in the world.
Within the context of the series we learn that the women have escaped their life of bondage and sexual servitude and reside in shelters away from their previous sex trafficked existence. This changes the way we read the image, and adds a certain poignancy, the look on the womans face is transformed into one of deep enjoyment for a longed day, we are invited to imagine the many times she has stared vacantly at the ceiling whilst with a 'client' perhaps envisioning the very view she is enjoying now.
As a series i found 'Not Natasha' wholly unremarkable, resorting as it did to hackneyed cliched tugs on our heartstrings. For me there was nothing that set these images apart, and in fact the style and format is now so familiar that repetition of these signs has stripped them of meaning. Images such as these are so prevalent that their power is negated and they simply become an addition to the morass of cliched imagery surrounding this topic. Indeed these images could have been stills from any number of Channel 5 documentaries such is the well worn visual path down which they tread.
This is not to say that I advocate any facet of this vile and abhorrent form of slavery, more that i take issue with lazy photographic practice which seems to me to build wholly on the stereotype it is attempting to illustrate and dispel.
Wednesday 24 March 2010
'Not Natasha' Exhibition Review
The image that I have chosen to analyse from the exhibition shows a girls arm spread out on white bed sheets. The image is in colour and has simple and plain colours and tones. The frame of the photo only includes the arm and the sheets and it has been cropped so that the arm is centered in the frame and is the main focal point. By doing this she has instantly created a strong line across the composition of the image which captures the viewers attention. The rumpled lines on the sheets contrast with the straight lines on the girls arm and they look as if they flow from her hand outwards. In reference to her self-harm marks, these lines on the bed sheets could represent her pain flowing away from her body, the release that she gets from hurting herself. The red lines of her arm contrast with the clinical white bed sheets, which could connotate purity. A contrast to how her life was previously, It captures the girls entire past in one small frame.
The photograph is a documentary photograph but is not in the classic black and white like a lot of documentary photos are. I feel the use of colour strongly heightens the emotions and message of the photograph and makes it more realistic whereas if it was in black and white I feel this may make it less intimate.
As in all her photographs from this series there is no identity shown, im not sure if this is mainly to protect the identity of the girls and because they didn’t feel comfortable but it also suggests the message of women been used as objects- to the sex traffickers they had no identity.
On Dana Popa’s website she has placed this image after a photograph that is completely different. The photograph shows a bedroom door with a picture on it- the picture has a girls name written and hearts have been drawn around it. This photo does touch on identity, as there is a name. And the hearts almost appear ironic. The girls name and the hearts almost gives a sense of hope, but then this photo is then followed with a shocking contrast of the girls arm, Which is a very interesting way to have them as a series and it took me by surprise.
This image is simple in composition. But the message is strong. And emotional. The arm been the center of the photo leaves no room for other emotions or messages to distract it and it is a realistic and shocking image. The series as a whole is upsetting and I think this was the photographers intention and was also to show the truth and make people aware.
I chose to look at this image as out of all the series I felt it spoke the loudest- it is the least subtle out of her photographs, This is mainly due its obvious subject matter, but I also felt it was the most honest and truthful photograph I had seen in a long time and was shocked that such a soft, empty and silent image in tone and colour could scream pain so loudly.
Holly Saxton
Review of Dana Popa: Not Natasha, Impressions Gallery, Bradford
Dana Popa’s most recent work, Not Natasha, is currently being exhibited at Impressions Gallery, Bradford.
Dana Popa is a Romanian born photographer who deals with issues relating to human-rights. Not Natasha is a documentary project depicting the experiences of those affected by sex-trafficking, specifically from the Eastern European country, Moldova. ‘Natasha’ is the nickname given to prostitutes with Eastern-European looks.
Two Little Girls (Dir: Peter Baynton), is an animated film accompanying the exhibition that tells the story of two friends that were sold to prostitution abroad.
This exhibition asks the viewer to consider the circumstances that lead to women being sex-trafficked, the experiences of the women during their ordeal, the impact it has on those left behind and the aftermath, once the women are no longer working against their will. Popa achieves this through the display of three different styles of image: portraits of the women who were trafficked, photographs of family members and the homes left behind, and photographs from working brothels in London,
The portraits of the women and girls that have escaped were taken in their home country but not necessarily their home-town. This is because of the discrimination experienced on their return due to the stigma that is attached to sex slavery - some women were disowned by their families.
The photographs are highly emotive. Because the stories are told from different perspectives the viewer is able to gain a fuller understanding of the subject. With the exception of a photograph showing an arm with self-harm scars, the images do not show the physical harm the women must have been subjected to.
The photographs are contextualised with text, ‘Sisters Ana and Cristina were trafficked to Ukraine and forced to work without being paid. Ana was sexually abused’ is placed next to a photograph of two girls. The sadness and vulnerability of these two figures is so apparent. They look so young, one girl is wearing jeans with embroidered flowers. The sisters have been photographed on a sunny day, they are holding hands, dressed casually – a standard summer’s scene to be captured. However, their expressions are not typical for this type of photograph, they are not smiling and their body language communicates a feeling of awkwardness and resignation. The sisters show strength and resolve by holding hands and looking directly at the camera and therefore straight at the viewer, they are in control of what is communicated in this photograph, inviting the viewer to contemplate what happened to them in the past and what their future will be.
Alex Gaites
Dana Popa is a Romanian born photographer who deals with issues relating to human-rights. Not Natasha is a documentary project depicting the experiences of those affected by sex-trafficking, specifically from the Eastern European country, Moldova. ‘Natasha’ is the nickname given to prostitutes with Eastern-European looks.
Two Little Girls (Dir: Peter Baynton), is an animated film accompanying the exhibition that tells the story of two friends that were sold to prostitution abroad.
This exhibition asks the viewer to consider the circumstances that lead to women being sex-trafficked, the experiences of the women during their ordeal, the impact it has on those left behind and the aftermath, once the women are no longer working against their will. Popa achieves this through the display of three different styles of image: portraits of the women who were trafficked, photographs of family members and the homes left behind, and photographs from working brothels in London,
The portraits of the women and girls that have escaped were taken in their home country but not necessarily their home-town. This is because of the discrimination experienced on their return due to the stigma that is attached to sex slavery - some women were disowned by their families.
The photographs are highly emotive. Because the stories are told from different perspectives the viewer is able to gain a fuller understanding of the subject. With the exception of a photograph showing an arm with self-harm scars, the images do not show the physical harm the women must have been subjected to.
The photographs are contextualised with text, ‘Sisters Ana and Cristina were trafficked to Ukraine and forced to work without being paid. Ana was sexually abused’ is placed next to a photograph of two girls. The sadness and vulnerability of these two figures is so apparent. They look so young, one girl is wearing jeans with embroidered flowers. The sisters have been photographed on a sunny day, they are holding hands, dressed casually – a standard summer’s scene to be captured. However, their expressions are not typical for this type of photograph, they are not smiling and their body language communicates a feeling of awkwardness and resignation. The sisters show strength and resolve by holding hands and looking directly at the camera and therefore straight at the viewer, they are in control of what is communicated in this photograph, inviting the viewer to contemplate what happened to them in the past and what their future will be.
Alex Gaites
Not Natasha review
The image i was most drawn to when looking at the exhibition k was the image of the a baby on the bed. When i first saw the image i thought the baby was a toy doll as it so small, so my review was going to mention how it such a strong image as the toy doll is a direct link to how girls as young as 12 are been used as sex slaves.
In some respects this still stands as i am not sure how old the mother of the child is, it does show that the baby has been left on the bed alone with no one there to look after it. Is this because the mother still feels she has to work to support the baby and ensure she can feed it.
The image is a strong image and your eye is immediately drawn to the baby as this is the most vibrant area with the pink dummy in the babies mouth.
to me it the image shows the isolation that works in the sex industry can have but rather been shown through an image of one of them it is been show by one of there children, who at a young ages is been left alone while the mother goes and earns money.
technically the image is very grain when looking close up but this works quite well and give the image has a good strong final image, the blur at the forefron the the picture works well to as your eye line (or mine) was drawn striaght to the baby
Lee
Not Natasha Vs Migrant Prostitutes
When viewing Dana's images, they have a certain strong and personal style. Yet at the same time, I cannot help but feel many are posed and manipulated for a certain effect. I am not saying however, that this is a negative point - and that importantly this is showing how Dana sculpts her work as an artist.
Paolo Patrizi - Migrant Prostitutes.
As a binary opposition, Paolo Patrizi, who documented 'Migrant Prostitutes' locations for sex in Italy. With more of a documentary style, Paolo's images deliver emotion and atmosphere with a different effect. More displaced and eerie, we are allowed to study what we are seeing, contrasted with Dana's placement of us within the image, studying the situation for us and delivering her artistic judgement. The image above by Patrizi is not set for Depth of Field, Contrast and rich and or desaturated colours to compliment or work against the ethics/emotions involved, it is simply what it is. A picture of a migrant prostitutes bed, just off a layby, soiled dirty and disregarded, much like the prostitute. I feel the image holds enough information simply presented on its own, for us as viewers to understand the pain of what these women are going through.
Overall, I personally find Dana's artistic influence warming to the pictures, which does not suit the topic (in my eyes). As said before I much prefer the cold, clinical approach of Patrizi, who's images become static, and almost empty of emotion, which must be how the sex workers feel - tired, empty, drained and spent.
Even though i am not negatively commenting on Dana Popa's work, I do not think you should make a pretty picture from prostitutes, no matter what the message underneath it all is.
Daniel Ross
Tuesday 23 March 2010
Dana Popa - not Natasha
This photograph shows a baby lying near the edge of a double bed tightly swaddled in a soft pale beige/pink cloth. This baby is the sole figure in the image and only takes up a small portion of the frame. The colours are vey plane and muted with the only bright colour being the pink of the baby’s dummy.
The composition is interesting. The baby is in the far right of the frame and a plane of cream cloth takes up the foreground. Most of the detail lies in the top of the image and is part of the beds headboard.
Te depth of field is quite shallow and the eye is drawn towards the baby. With the viewers focus directed onto the babies face. The lighting is very soft and the foreground of the image is lit up the best. The light seems to be natural and coming from where the viewer is standing – from the bottom of the image. The shadows go upwards. The baby’s face is lit up but partially thrown into shadow and obscured by its dummy.
What I find interesting about the image is the lonely and calm atmosphere it seems to contain. Usually children are associated with chaos and noise but I associate this baby with quiet and stillness. This is probably because of the emptiness of the image. The baby is the only figure and the viewer is forced to wonder where its parents are, its mother in particular. It is quite sad. The viewer wonders why this baby is alone and why it is in a completely barren environment that would usually be associated with adults. The baby looks fragile and almost like a doll. The vulnerability of the baby in the image helps to highlight the vulnerability of Dana’s subjects. Her entire subject of sex trafficking is a sensitive subject and I think this image is particularly successful in bringing forth some of the sadder issues of sex trafficking.
I like the image, it is very visually appealing and soft on the eyes. It highlights some of the issues Dana is trying to relate to her viewers in a powerful way, even though the image is very soft. It is particularly hard-hitting as the image is part of an exhibition that tackles a problem that is very much an issue today. The artist spent time getting to know her subjects and gaining their confidence, this enabled her to capture them in a relaxed and natural way. Her work is particularly impressive when viewed together in exhibition format.
Eleanor Smith
Rosie Cox Dana Popa exhibition review
The image is part of a series. The photo shows a young woman standing next to a brightly lit window, not facing the camera or the viewer. (Not a portrait as such) She looks hopeful and clutches onto a photograph of a man and two young children; possibly her husband and sons. Printed in portrait format, there is a lack of colour in the image. The light catches glimpses of the woman’s clothing and the side profile of her face is exposed. Knowing what the series of work is about and knowing a bit more about each of the subjects, informs you greater to what each image is about and what the subjects might be feeling.
This particular woman’s story is that she’s a schizophrenic and sadly has no perception of reality, so she gazes out of the window hoping her family will come and get her soon. Unfortunately it was inevitable that that would never happen. The darkness that covers the majority of the scene means the viewer feels empathy towards the girl and the situation she is in.
The image oozes sadness and desperation. The light from the window, which is probably where the viewer is immediately drawn to and then follows to the left hand side to the girl, is captured reflecting onto the floor of the room next to where she stands. This helps to brighten the image, but also evokes and expresses greatly how removed from reality and the outside world she truly is.
There is a line between the window hinting and teasing at the viewer towards the outside which in turn equals freedom, then follows onto the floor which shows where she is in perspective to reality; stuck in between two worlds, trapped and forced to work as a prostitute. She is also trapped in between two worlds in her mind and in a state of confusion.
Using a 35mm small and compact camera meant that Dana Popa could photograph the girls and the places they lived and worked with discretion and an understanding to where and what she was documenting. 35mm is the usual format used for documentary format because of the size and it doesn’t look intimidating as a large format camera might in this situation.
In my own observations, I find the separation from the outside world that she clutches onto in the sense of the photograph and gazing fondly out into the world she is not allowed to live in very interesting but also very sad and heartbreaking.
The composition sets you asking questions about her state of mine and how she is feeling and what she knows. Does she really believe her family will come back and get her? Have they tried and failed before? Has she tried to escape?
The main theme of the series is the sex trafficking of women, a project made over four years. Documenting the experiences of sex-trafficked women from Moldova through photography and collected stories. Natasha is the nickname given to prostitutes with Eastern European looks. Sex trafficked girls hate it.
10% of the female population in Moldova are sex trafficked. There are three main veins running through the theme of this work: the women pictured are now in shelters, Popa was looking at the traces of what is left behind and also documenting the scenes of where they were held captive. Each image shows a glimpse of the woman’s life and although there is no sex trafficking or any acts of sex shown in any of the images it is still shown in poignant way and evident to the viewer.
Popa was influenced by Nan Goldin particularly to do with the colours in her work making the scenes more intimate and personal. By not being told underneath each image what it is about or specifically who is in the photo, means there is a visual narrative. In this situation the camera is used as a point of power in a vulnerable situation and an uncomfortable tension is depicted in each image.
Most of the sex trafficked girls have family outside the brothels who know where they are and know they were taken by pimps and held captive, forced to work as sex slaves. Seeing the image in a series whether it be as part of an exhibition or of a book, it helps to make a strong impact to the viewer. But you can sense the woman’s desperation and hope from the way she stares out of the window and holds onto the family she cannot get close to any longer. The photo is all she has left of them, which held against her, will.
Dana Popa was escorted into the brothels by police and other authorative escorts and you wonder why the police didn’t close them down there and then and rescue all the women inside and take them out of captivity.
I neither like nor dislike the image I have chosen to annotate. I don’t think I can like an image that represents the sex trafficking of women especially in the current or modern day. I can have an opinion and say that it works aesthetically and makes the viewer question it and want to look closer and pick out the finer details to examine. It makes me feel vulnerable and helpless looking at this image.
I start to put myself into this woman’s shoes and find myself clutching onto the photo of my nearest and dearest and longing to be free in the outside world. I feel an air of sadness when I look at any image in this series of work. But I think that is the reaction Popa might have been expecting. This is such a personal and sensitive subject and I think it will be different for men and women to look at the work and feel good about it. However, each girl photographed, was eventually rescued and put into shelters and hopefully reunited with their families, so there is a good ending to it after all.
This particular woman’s story is that she’s a schizophrenic and sadly has no perception of reality, so she gazes out of the window hoping her family will come and get her soon. Unfortunately it was inevitable that that would never happen. The darkness that covers the majority of the scene means the viewer feels empathy towards the girl and the situation she is in.
The image oozes sadness and desperation. The light from the window, which is probably where the viewer is immediately drawn to and then follows to the left hand side to the girl, is captured reflecting onto the floor of the room next to where she stands. This helps to brighten the image, but also evokes and expresses greatly how removed from reality and the outside world she truly is.
There is a line between the window hinting and teasing at the viewer towards the outside which in turn equals freedom, then follows onto the floor which shows where she is in perspective to reality; stuck in between two worlds, trapped and forced to work as a prostitute. She is also trapped in between two worlds in her mind and in a state of confusion.
Using a 35mm small and compact camera meant that Dana Popa could photograph the girls and the places they lived and worked with discretion and an understanding to where and what she was documenting. 35mm is the usual format used for documentary format because of the size and it doesn’t look intimidating as a large format camera might in this situation.
In my own observations, I find the separation from the outside world that she clutches onto in the sense of the photograph and gazing fondly out into the world she is not allowed to live in very interesting but also very sad and heartbreaking.
The composition sets you asking questions about her state of mine and how she is feeling and what she knows. Does she really believe her family will come back and get her? Have they tried and failed before? Has she tried to escape?
The main theme of the series is the sex trafficking of women, a project made over four years. Documenting the experiences of sex-trafficked women from Moldova through photography and collected stories. Natasha is the nickname given to prostitutes with Eastern European looks. Sex trafficked girls hate it.
10% of the female population in Moldova are sex trafficked. There are three main veins running through the theme of this work: the women pictured are now in shelters, Popa was looking at the traces of what is left behind and also documenting the scenes of where they were held captive. Each image shows a glimpse of the woman’s life and although there is no sex trafficking or any acts of sex shown in any of the images it is still shown in poignant way and evident to the viewer.
Popa was influenced by Nan Goldin particularly to do with the colours in her work making the scenes more intimate and personal. By not being told underneath each image what it is about or specifically who is in the photo, means there is a visual narrative. In this situation the camera is used as a point of power in a vulnerable situation and an uncomfortable tension is depicted in each image.
Most of the sex trafficked girls have family outside the brothels who know where they are and know they were taken by pimps and held captive, forced to work as sex slaves. Seeing the image in a series whether it be as part of an exhibition or of a book, it helps to make a strong impact to the viewer. But you can sense the woman’s desperation and hope from the way she stares out of the window and holds onto the family she cannot get close to any longer. The photo is all she has left of them, which held against her, will.
Dana Popa was escorted into the brothels by police and other authorative escorts and you wonder why the police didn’t close them down there and then and rescue all the women inside and take them out of captivity.
I neither like nor dislike the image I have chosen to annotate. I don’t think I can like an image that represents the sex trafficking of women especially in the current or modern day. I can have an opinion and say that it works aesthetically and makes the viewer question it and want to look closer and pick out the finer details to examine. It makes me feel vulnerable and helpless looking at this image.
I start to put myself into this woman’s shoes and find myself clutching onto the photo of my nearest and dearest and longing to be free in the outside world. I feel an air of sadness when I look at any image in this series of work. But I think that is the reaction Popa might have been expecting. This is such a personal and sensitive subject and I think it will be different for men and women to look at the work and feel good about it. However, each girl photographed, was eventually rescued and put into shelters and hopefully reunited with their families, so there is a good ending to it after all.
Thursday 18 March 2010
Marc Bungle Brown
Not Natasha-Dana Popa
Impressions Gallery, Bradford 5th Feb-18th April 2010.
I chose this image to write about as it is the one that made the most impact on me, it is far more chilling in my opinion as it is more subtle than the other images in that there are no visible injuries to the girl and it is not apparent without knowing the context of that image that she is/was indeed a victim of sex trafficking. The image is shot on 35mm so I feel it could have been taken covertly without the prior knowledge of the subject, so as to get a more natural shot. What I notice about the image that is disturbing to me is the hand that is just at the edge of shot, creeping in, in my mind symbolising the traffickers, and how she is safe at the moment but there will always be the worry that they will recapture her.
If you look at the feet of the subject you will notice that she is clamped down tight onto the stirrup, as though nervous or wincing in pain, which conjures up all sorts of images in ones head about what is going on out of shot.
The shot is very white and very clinical, in stark contrast to the sleazy red lit rooms of the brothels that she would have once inhabited, there is, in my mind an equal balance of relief and fear in this picture, fear, as she is clearly wincing and in this hospital-esque setting looks rather un-nerving, but also relief in the way the image is lit, by beautiful natural sunlight, the light softened by the cotton drapes, and the greenery of the garden just in view, a sign of happier times to come, the grass is always greener on the other side.
Tuesday 9 March 2010
polly parker dona popa
‘Not Natasha’ by Dona Popa illustrates a series of women’s experiences of sex-trafficked women from Moldova through photography and collected stories. Natasha is a nickname given to prostitutes with eastern European looks which sex-trafficked girls hate.
The set up of the gallery was done in such a way so that it makes one feel like you’re walking through a tunnel and gives that whole uncomfortable feeling of awkwardness. The image shows the side profile of one blonde haired girl taking in a drag of a cigarette, opposite her there is an out-stretched with proof of self harm all along her arm. Between the two girls there is a blurred shot of what appears to be trees, as if they are both sitting on a long or branch of some sort looking out onto a forest. Under the image read a caption of ‘I was twelve years old. I don’t want to talk about it’. The image is in colour which makes the overall image more intimate which produces an attachment between the viewer and the image, it’s slightly over saturated which makes it almost too real. This image in comparison to the rest stood out to me because I felt like I could relate to it, due to myself being a smoker I could imagine the girl saying those words then taking a huge drag on her cigarette. Another reason why I choose this image is because I almost found some of Popa’s other images rather upsetting, as a collection they are all very strong and knowing that they are expressing the truth has a large factor to why I find them disturbing.
Dana Popa’s image is very clever because she shows intimacy without showing any actual identity. There is no actual work of sex-trafficking, Popa just subtly hints at it. The vulnerability of the girls is emphasized due to the fact that we have the same view as the camera, therefore the power. Some photographers pay their subjects so as to make it equal. When you first look at the image your attention is firstly caught by the girls blonde hair and cigarette but then the longer you look, you can see the other girls self-harm marks on her arm.
Dana Popa, Not Natasha Review by Rachel Barker
Dana Popa, Not Natasha
Impressions Gallery 05 Feb – 18 April 2010.
Commissioned by Autograph ABP
Dana Popa began Not Natasha in 2006, thirteen years subsequent to ‘the General Assembly of the United Nations [adopting] the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women’ [2009]. Her work often focuses around contemporary social issues with a particular emphasis on human rights. The collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in 10% of the population’s women and children in Moldova being linked to trafficking. Dana Popa gives the work a clear, clever title, making a stand through her medium that these girls are not Natasha anymore. She aims to capture the girls’ souls, to tell the story of their pasts, their pain.
The work was originally planned for exhibition as book form alone, playing on the size of a passport – the key element of taking the girl’s identity. The size of the book also reflects the diaries the girl’s kept, private and truthful, emphasizing the strong visual narrative of the work. The images were also exhibited in gallery space. At the Impressions Gallery, thirty-seven photographs [a variation of 35mm and 6x7 medium format, printed gloss and mounted beneath glass against white with thick black frames] were exhibited; some images stood alone, whilst others worked as part of a small series. The positioning of the images emphasized the visual punctuation, with white spaces between the images representing the silence between speech. Dana’s images portray a shocking, underground, real world through strong contrast and natural lighting. The quotes accompanying the photographs make the atmosphere of the exhibition disturbingly real, creating an uncomfortable silence throughout.
I chose to concentrate on a series of three images, untitled, the self-harm scarred arm against creased white bed sheets, the girl with the red hair covered with white sheets looking towards the wall and the image of the foot in the stirrup with the hand out of focus coming into shot from the left in the background, the only image of the three not centrally focused. I choose these three images because I immediately appreciated the strong connections between them. The abortion connotations, clinical and orderly; the comparison of skin tone against white linen, white being a strong link throughout several of the images, especially with white lace, sheets and curtains, possibly indicating purification as well as acting as a barrier. Shot 35mm, the images are in keeping with the dimensions of documentary photography, however colour personifies the images, making them all the more real than traditional detached black and white documentary photographs. As a woman, I identify with the fear of each of these women; the images clearly dictate that this, this awful ordeal can in fact happen to anyone.
The image of the scarred arm and the photograph of the girl laid under sheets are both in full focus, whereas the foot in the stirrup image follows a sequence throughout the exhibition, with strong consideration of depth of field, concentrating on the main subject than the object around them. The arm and body show full focus, because everything in those images is to be read equally.
In the book, these images are not shown together as they are exhibited, which questions whether these three images are indeed related. Viewing the images in the exhibition space I presumed the three images were of the same girl, at first prior to abortion, second in the clinic bed recovering, and third, the scarred arm presenting the pain of the girl’s past. Whether or not these images are interconnected or not, they tell powerful narratives through which the pain of these girls, whom no longer feel like strangers, scream from below the glass.
Rachel Barker
Sealy, M. [2009] Beyond the Lens, Foam Magazine, Spring.
Friday 5 March 2010
Dona Popa
Not Natasha
image title: untitled
exhibition: 5th of February – 18th April
The girl appears uncomfortable and uneasy within an environment that reveals no apparent destination (possibly a day trip), she appears reserved as she remains fully clothed while the male within the image stands wearing only his underwear. The photograph appears to be a scan of another image suggesting that it may have been taken at an earlier point in the girl’s life (perhaps at a happier time or as a free woman). Suggests the woman has since been trafficked.
The original photograph was shot with no intention of being show within an exhibition environment. The photograph is shot in colour with no apparent consideration to composition suggesting that it was taken mealy to record an event (memorable). The male drinking within the image also reinforces the idea of a happier time (perhaps a celebration). Shot in colour the image automatically become slightly more personal as it bears no resemblance to the gritty black and white images we would normally associate with documentary photography.
The format appears to be standard 35mm which reinforces the close–ness within the image, it is also the format people are most comfortable with suggesting aging that this is not a staged or posed photograph.
The photographs are presented with areas of white wall between them that allows the images to be read almost like a book, it also suggests gaps between verbal communication (telling a story and pausing before moving onto the next sentence) it allows the viewer to identify specific individual stories and creates a personal interaction with each image.
Jerome
Dark Corners
None of the images at Impressions Gallery, Bradford are titled, as the exhibition is constructed almost in book form on the gallery walls. The curation takes us through the series (made in Moldova and Soho in 2006/7) and is punctuated with quotes from the women themselves; from relatives who have 'lost' girls to the sex trafficking industry; from their children, and from the photographer. The resulting narrative is tragic and at times disturbing.
This image (shot on 6x6 format in colour)is a harrowing still life that indicates a pained existence. Significantly there are no acts of sex or violence shown in any part of the exhibition, but their traces are evident. The image shows a 'home corner' where a table has been brightened by a dirty pink cloth. Someone has attempted to hide the filthy concrete walls with a stained, brown blanket, and a pot elephant avoids our gaze between the two.
The other objects on the table tell a tale of cigarettes, a hot drink, and maybe a link to the outside world via the mobile phone charger that hangs abandoned between the mug and the ashtray. A glass jar is almost full of a brown liquid which is covered by it's upturned lid. There is a small unidentifiable object in the lid, that invites speculation. Finally we see some cultural and familial reference in the two hand-coloured portraits which hang at odd levels in the corner. The young couple, and the two men with the baby are hard to place in time or geography. If anything they belong to someone specific, who could at the same time be no-one.
This is a stripped down existence. A life reduced to measure by the small segments of time, which the clock is there to record. A calendar on the wall, and the hands of the clock remind us of the cameras primary function- to preserve a moment in time and history. As one girl comments, "why would you bring up my life again?" For these are images of lives left behind, at the same time containing the assurance that this reduction of a life has in no way come to an end.
As Mark Sealy points out in his 2009 essay, Beyond the Lens, 'The interiority of the photographic work, the empty rooms, the dark claustrophobic spaces, portray a chronic condition of despair and highlight the catastrophic conditions that make it possible for human trafficking to thrive.' Indeed whilst in the gallery space we are contained, but our freedom to walk away from these difficult images only serves to emphasise our difference/distance from the subjects shown here. If this discomfort leads us to act or to think, then perhaps Dana Popa's work is done.
Helen Clarke
This image (shot on 6x6 format in colour)is a harrowing still life that indicates a pained existence. Significantly there are no acts of sex or violence shown in any part of the exhibition, but their traces are evident. The image shows a 'home corner' where a table has been brightened by a dirty pink cloth. Someone has attempted to hide the filthy concrete walls with a stained, brown blanket, and a pot elephant avoids our gaze between the two.
The other objects on the table tell a tale of cigarettes, a hot drink, and maybe a link to the outside world via the mobile phone charger that hangs abandoned between the mug and the ashtray. A glass jar is almost full of a brown liquid which is covered by it's upturned lid. There is a small unidentifiable object in the lid, that invites speculation. Finally we see some cultural and familial reference in the two hand-coloured portraits which hang at odd levels in the corner. The young couple, and the two men with the baby are hard to place in time or geography. If anything they belong to someone specific, who could at the same time be no-one.
This is a stripped down existence. A life reduced to measure by the small segments of time, which the clock is there to record. A calendar on the wall, and the hands of the clock remind us of the cameras primary function- to preserve a moment in time and history. As one girl comments, "why would you bring up my life again?" For these are images of lives left behind, at the same time containing the assurance that this reduction of a life has in no way come to an end.
As Mark Sealy points out in his 2009 essay, Beyond the Lens, 'The interiority of the photographic work, the empty rooms, the dark claustrophobic spaces, portray a chronic condition of despair and highlight the catastrophic conditions that make it possible for human trafficking to thrive.' Indeed whilst in the gallery space we are contained, but our freedom to walk away from these difficult images only serves to emphasise our difference/distance from the subjects shown here. If this discomfort leads us to act or to think, then perhaps Dana Popa's work is done.
Helen Clarke
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