3rd place
bronze star award
Mauro De Bettio
italy 
title
HIDDEN ANGELS
Built by the british during the colonial government, is now owned by a powerful local family.
It is strategically located between a railway station and a busy harbor. Beautiful and colorful blooming trees surround what looks like a small town, but actually is a prison without a way out. A gigantic trap with over two thousand shacks, each housing a prostitute.
They call them “sex workers” and every day they momentarily satiate the ardor of about three thousand men. These women earn about two, three or four dollars at a time, depending on the man's satisfaction. Sometimes the man thinks the woman is not worth paying anything at all. On the skin the indelible marks of violent clients- bruises, cuts and burns. Inside their small tin sheds, they alleviate the solitude of tourists, sailors, longshoremen and myriads of deadbeat of all kinds. On the walls hang posters of famous actors: Kareena Kapoor, Sonam, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan. They have pictures of houses with gardens, a pond, parrots and flamboyant red cars parked in the yard. The average age of newly arriving sex workers is 14 years old (the age of consent), meaning some are even younger. Many of them are sold into sex work for a few hundred dollars, which then they are obligated to pay to the “madame," a figure that from that moment on will become a mother, a protector and also the owner of their bodies. Once their debt is repaid, which could take up to five years, they become independent sex workers and are free to leave the brothel. But these women are socially stigmatized outside their ‘homes,’ and thus often choose to stay and continue supporting their families with their earnings.
De Bettio’s intimate perspective sees the essence of an individual and brings it out through each photograph. His collective body of work reveals the strength and resilience of humanity as a whole.
"I have traveled to different remote corners of the planet, met and photographed people of distinct cultures, characters and dogmas, who have opened a window on their stories, letting emotions, traumas, sufferings and a perpetual light of life and joy shine through their eyes".
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entry description
Is called Daulatdia, the largest brothels in the world.Built by the british during the colonial government, is now owned by a powerful local family.
It is strategically located between a railway station and a busy harbor. Beautiful and colorful blooming trees surround what looks like a small town, but actually is a prison without a way out. A gigantic trap with over two thousand shacks, each housing a prostitute.
They call them “sex workers” and every day they momentarily satiate the ardor of about three thousand men. These women earn about two, three or four dollars at a time, depending on the man's satisfaction. Sometimes the man thinks the woman is not worth paying anything at all. On the skin the indelible marks of violent clients- bruises, cuts and burns. Inside their small tin sheds, they alleviate the solitude of tourists, sailors, longshoremen and myriads of deadbeat of all kinds. On the walls hang posters of famous actors: Kareena Kapoor, Sonam, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan. They have pictures of houses with gardens, a pond, parrots and flamboyant red cars parked in the yard. The average age of newly arriving sex workers is 14 years old (the age of consent), meaning some are even younger. Many of them are sold into sex work for a few hundred dollars, which then they are obligated to pay to the “madame," a figure that from that moment on will become a mother, a protector and also the owner of their bodies. Once their debt is repaid, which could take up to five years, they become independent sex workers and are free to leave the brothel. But these women are socially stigmatized outside their ‘homes,’ and thus often choose to stay and continue supporting their families with their earnings.
about the photographer
Mauro De Bettio is an accomplished photographer who travels the world year-round, with an unpretentious air, shining a light on difficult situations to bring beauty.De Bettio’s intimate perspective sees the essence of an individual and brings it out through each photograph. His collective body of work reveals the strength and resilience of humanity as a whole.
"I have traveled to different remote corners of the planet, met and photographed people of distinct cultures, characters and dogmas, who have opened a window on their stories, letting emotions, traumas, sufferings and a perpetual light of life and joy shine through their eyes".
back to gallery
