Trafficked,2018 

In my recent series, Trafficked (solo-show) which is on exhibition at California State University, Fullerton Grand Central Arts Center from October-December, I present sex trafficking abstractly through the use of shadows and monochromatic color. Photographer Diane Arbus's work, and her ability to give a voice to the voiceless in society inspired me to explore this subject through my photography. Shadows are seen as the reflection of the subject when in fact they are their own entity. They are looked down upon because they are unrecognizable and lack explicit human qualities. Similar to shadows, human trafficking is often misinterpreted, viewed for what it physically involves, which is sex. It is portrayed as an act performed by the actual victim, rather than viewed as the sexual exploitation and criminal act forced upon that individual. Due to these parallels found between the two subjects, I chose to use shadows as a metaphor for this topic.