Reagan Louie Sex in Asia

Masseuse, Hong Kong

Chit Rangoon

Macau

Reagan Louie, a Chinese American photographer spent six years exploring the Asian sex trade. Traveling throughout Asia, Louie visited nearly a dozen countries, photographing the day-to-day lives of hundreds of women and girls, who—either by choice or necessity—prostitute themselves. Ranging from Thai sex emporiums and Japanese image clubs to Philippine dance halls and Taiwanese betel nut stands, his pictures explore this thriving industry and the fantasy that it nourishes. His obsessive photographic journey into this underground business depicts a world where the line between myth and reality is often deliberately blurred. Louie records the often gaudy, functional architecture on the periphery, but focuses his full attention on the women who inhabit this world. He examines the stereotypes of Asian female sexuality that give these places their particular character, but Louie is not interested in sociological study. He prefers to see these women as individuals, worthy of thoughtful yet frank portraits. read more

more pictures here, here and here
an interview with Reagan Louie here
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