Tuesday, March 25, 2025

You Might Recognise Some Of These Cape Town Trans Sex Workers Featured On VICE Magazine’s Website

Two Dutch artists have taken a major interest in our city's trans sex workers, taking a number of striking portraits. Anyone look familiar?
DEREK SERRA _Q6[

I would imagine being a sex worker is far from an easy life – I think that’s something we can all agree on.

If you happen to live in the city you often see the same faces strutting their stuff around town, which means you may recognise one of these pictures taken by Dutch artists Duran Lantink and Jan Hoek.

Lantnik would be the fashion designer and Hoek the photographer, with some more on how the pair ended up in Cape Town from VICE below:

The project started when Hoek and Lantink saw a picture of two trans sex workers in Cape Town and were so taken by their appearance and attitude that they booked a ticket to South Africa immediately. It then evolved into an expanded series where they interviewed the workers about their dreams. Hoek, Lantink, and the women worked together on outfits and sets to bring their dreams to life.

“We were really excited to showcase the creative ability of all the girls we worked with and give them a different story that focuses on their fashion rather than their hardship,” Hoek said. “The pictures weren’t really about sex work. There’s so much more to their lives.”

Let’s take a look at some of those photos then:

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That’s 30-year-old Sulaiga above who had this to say:

“I want to sell drugs and make a lot of money. I want to sell cocaine, crystal meth, and heroin. I want to have big cars, live in Las Vegas, and hang out with the mafia and be happy.”

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You can see more pictures from that VICE article HERE.

[source:vice]

[mainimage:westcapenews]