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Zana Briski

Fellowship Title:

  • Beauty and the Brothel

Beauty and the Brothel: Prostitutes and AIDS in India

Zana Briski
August 29, 2002

Fellowship Year

  • 2000
Beauty and her customer Naren in the brothel. Beauty is from Bangladesh and without papers she sleeps her way across the border in order to go home to visit her five-year old son. She is very popular with the customers. She says of them, "By acting like I'm in love, I get them under my control, so that they keep coming back. This is my way of earning money. I never truly love anyone." 2001 © Zana BRISKI
Beauty and her customer Naren in the brothel. Beauty is from Bangladesh and without papers she sleeps her way across the border in order to go home to visit her five-year old son. She is very popular with the customers. She says of them, "By acting like I'm in love, I get them under my control, so that they keep coming back. This is my way of earning money. I never truly love anyone." 2001 © Zana BRISKI
Inside a brothel room. 2001 © Zana BRISKI Paper butterflies decorating a brothel room. 2001 © Zana BRISKI A drunk customer who has fallen down the stairs inside the brothel. 2001 © Zana BRISKI A sex worker walks by in the brothel, going back to her room. 2001 © Zana BRISKI Detail from the wall of a brothel room. 2001 © Zana BRISKI A sex worker takes an afternoon nap on a bench in the corridor. 2001 © Zana BRISKI Negotiations between customers and sex workers on the third and fourth floors of the brothel. 2001 © Zana BRISKI Rina dresses in her sari to prepare for the evening's work. 2001 © Zana BRISKI The shadows of customers in the lane outside the brothel. 2001 © Zana BRISKI A staircase in a brothel. 2001 © Zana BRISKI Gita, Beauty's madam, yanks Beauty by her braid in front of customers to keep her in line. Gita is in charge of ten to fifteen women who operate out of one room but rent others by the night as needed. 2001 © Zana BRISKI Sunita, Kavita and others wait in the lane outside the brothel for customers. 2001 © Zana BRISKI Puja and her customer Kanu. 2001 © Zana BRISKI
  • © 2002
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Zana Briski

FELLOWSHIP TITLE

  • Beauty and the Brothel

FELLOWSHIP ARTICLES