Anticipation

Research for the 2011 Series- Loneliness and Sex Work in Kenya 

 

Tonight I am becoming increasingly nervous- I have decided to go to Koinange (pronounced koh-i-nan-gay) Street to photograph prostitutes at work. This is the raw material that I will use to create the series of paintings for The Lonely Whore series. It is a bit frightening. For one reason, I almost never go out past 9 pm in Nairobi. I lead a very settled life, and roaming the streets at night in search of good images is not something I have done until now.I will be using a camera that I rented with a long telephoto lens. First I am going to return to the Village Market to see if I can capture some ladies on camera there. I have it in mind to do a nice painting of three sex workers, all prepared for the evening, sitting and sipping Fanta and Coke. Big glossy lips, hair newly braided. I sense that Koinange Street is a slightly downmarket venue. In fact, I heard today that in the slums the sex workers receive as little as 20 bob for servicing a client (about one quarter dollar in US currency). More frequently it is 50 bob (about 65 cents). Wish me luck- I am excited and a bit off-center....Elaine