Corona in the City

Tiffany Elease (1994) works as a high class escort in Amsterdam, and (if there is no corona) regularly flies abroad for bookings.

“Before I started as a high class escort I was dating regularly. I find the excitement of getting to know new people and the sensuality that comes with it very exciting.
Unfortunately, I soon noticed that even on regular dates it was mainly about sex rather than me as a person. After having played with the idea of sex work for a while, I decided three years ago, because why shouldn’t I be compensated for this? The stigma surrounding sex work is just such a shame. We are all hardworking ladies and gentlemen. It’s annoying that we still can’t talk about it so openly. I just want to be able to tell my hairdresser what work I do without being afraid of weird looks. It is annoying that others make me feel I have to be quiet about it. Because I am enormously proud of this work.

When corona made such an impact in the Netherlands, I doubted whether it was wise to continue working. Many colleagues have done so until recently. I understand that this is a risky profession, but the financial burden continues. Still, I decided not to do it. I went to P&G292, an organisation that gives advice to sex workers in Amsterdam. They helped me and together we looked at the possibilities for the coming months. There are many sex workers who feel abandoned by the government, but fortunately I didn’t personally experience it that way.

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Robin Alysha Clemens (1992) is a photographer and storyteller, interested in people in the context of groups and (sub)cultures. She visualizes scenes with a cinematographic approach, in which identity and a sense of community are omnipresent. As a visual anthropologist, she investigates culture, identity, traditions and the associated symbolism. Since 2 years she works as a house photographer at the brothel ‘Club Elvee’ in Amsterdam and that is where her interest for the theme of sex work, and especially for the stories of the sex workers, started.

by Robin Clemens