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