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.