Reclamation looks at the intersection of film noir, its cinematic perpetuation of the centuries-old Madonna-Whore dichotomy, and the iconography of contemporary sex work and its criminalization. This body of work attempts to utilize the stylized elements of noir to support the belief that the Femme Fatale archetype, just as it was created to do in the early twentieth century, is forcefully transposed onto today’s at-risk community of sex workers.
Sex work affirms the right of disabled, queer, and divergent people to work. Their consensual employment in the field furthers the perception that the workers themselves are threatening to social moires. If the Femme Fatale archetype was used in Noir to warn of the consequences of a woman’s non-traditional decisions, then its forceful transposition today onto sex workers speaks to our current moment's inability to grapple with not just rights, but autonomy.
This series is reliant on the artist and participants’ positions within the sex work community and is a reaction to the April 2018 passing of the bill package S.E.S.T.A./F.O.S.T.A.
