CRS (Center for Remembering & Sharing) is pleased to present\u00a0a selection of images and stories from photographer\u00a0Annie Ling’s project\u00a0AWHERENESS\u00a0on human trafficking in Romania and Moldova. The exhibition has been arranged to coincide\u00a0with a free\u00a0Human Trafficking Awareness Day Program\u00a0taking place on January 11, 2014 at CRS from 4 \u2013 9 pm featuring two film screenings and a panel discussion.\u00a0The photographs will remain on view from Jan 11 \u2013 31, 2014.
\nPlease take this opportunity and direct your attention to\u00a0SocialDocumentary.net,\u00a0which highlights work by photographers around the world shedding light on the tragedy of trafficking.
\nRomania and Moldova are beautiful countries with an ugly problem. Every year, thousands of women, men and children are trafficked outside and within the borders for sex and forced labor.
\nIn many cases, children and young adults turn to the streets to escape harsh conditions at overrun orphanages or domestic abuse at home. Those affected by trafficking are often exploited by the ones closest to them: a family member, a partner, a lover. Psychological manipulation, coercion, and physical violence form the basis for a majority of these stories.
\nHuman trafficking is rooted in various systems of oppression. Hearing these stories, it is impossible to understand and address human trafficking without addressing broader socio-economic realities, gender inequality, domestic violence, corruption, racism, and poverty.
\nAWHERENESS is a collaboration with trafficked survivors to trace their stories and expose the places that enable trafficking. Trafficking is pervasive, making it hard to detect. It takes on many different forms, often in the most mundane places: at home, parks, transportation hubs, cafes, and beyond.
\nArtist Statement
\nAWHERENESS the project grew out of conversations and focused research between close friend and collaborator Patricia Chabvepi, a Romanian human rights activist and myself nearly two years ago.
\nTrafficking in Romania has swelled since 1989, with the end of communism. Upon joining the European Union in 2007, Romania relaxed its border patrol measures, making free flow of both goods and people easier across borders. However, as the country\u2019s economy is also improving, internal trafficking is also gaining traction. The situation is even more critical in Moldova due to the rise of orphanages amidst a struggling economy and lack of employment opportunities in the country. Most people in Moldova want to live and work abroad, which makes the trafficking of human beings a perversely easy endeavor. Moldova is the poorest nation of Europe, with a large percentage of its children growing up in state institutions, not necessarily because they are orphans, but because their parents do not have the means to raise them.
\nMy first exposure to the problem of human trafficking was through a number of awareness raising campaigns, seminars, reports and articles. Being from Romania, Patricia had been aware for years of Romanian young women being tricked into prostitution abroad, but only vaguely considered what this really meant and what exactly drove them to these jobs abroad as “waitresses” and “dancers.” During a volunteer opportunity with a New York-based organization that works with victims of domestic abuse, Patricia confronted the reality that domestic abuse and trafficking often go hand in hand.
\nHuman trafficking is a cunning beast that takes on various and evolving forms as result of underlying systems of oppression. Hearing these stories, it is impossible to understand and address human trafficking without addressing the broader socio-economic realities, gender inequality, domestic violence, racism, and poverty.
\nTrafficking today has a much more ambiguous and deceptive appearance, thus making it harder to expose. What happens now is often done under the cover of legality, with proper paperwork and even some portion of consent. This makes law enforcement particularly difficult, as does corruption.
\nTrafficking stories are personal. My hope is that these images would invite the viewer to contemplate more deeply the problem of human trafficking and to gain an \u201cawhereness\u201d of the context in which trafficking is born and bred through the personal stories of survivors.
\n\u2014 Annie Ling,\u00a0http:\/\/annielingphoto.com\u00a0@lingphoto
\nAbout Annie Ling
\nBorn in Taipei, Annie is a Canadian artist and documentary photographer currently based in Brooklyn, New York.
\nSelect clients include The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine, GEO Magazine (Germany), Courrier International (France), FADER Magazine, and New York Magazine.
\nHer photography has been featured in publications such as PDN Photo Annual, American Photography 27, Magenta Flash Forward: Emerging Photographers, Monthly Photography, and\u00a0The Forward, among others.
\nHer work is exhibited and collected internationally.\u00a0Most recently, her work has been exhibited in Germany (Lumix Photo Festival), South Korea (Gwanju Biennale), Finland (NYPH Awards), Hungary (Budapest Photo Festival), Canada (Magenta Flash Forward), and throughout the USA in Maine, Boston, and currently in New York City (“A Floating Population” at\u00a0MOCA).
\nAnnie is currently a fellow of Reflexions Masterclass, a laboratory investigating the evolution of the language of visual representation and photography. She is also a recipient of a Director\u2019s Fellowship from The International Center of Photography.
\nAWARDS & NOMINATIONS:
\nNew York Photo Festival Award, Honorary Mention, USA
\nMagenta Flash Forward Winner, Canada\/International
\nAmerican Photography 27, Selected, USA\/International
\nPDN Photo Annual Winner, USA\/International
\nPDN 30 Nominee, USA\/International
\nWorld Press Joop Swart Masterclass Nominee, Amsterdam
\nReflexions Masterclass Nominee\/Runner-Up, Italy\/Europe
\nICP Director\u2019s Fellowship, USA\/International
\nFOLLOW:
\nFor documentary projects, please go to:
\nwww.annielingphoto.com
\nFacebook Artist Page (news feed):
\nhttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Annie-Ling\/216525428377122
\nFollow on Twitter @lingphoto
\nAnnie is available for travel and assignments.
\nPlease contact for details and quotes.
\nLearn moreArtist BlogArtist Web Site
\nthrough Jan 201431Daily<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CRS (Center for Remembering & Sharing) is pleased to present\u00a0a selection of images and stories from photographer\u00a0Annie Ling’s project\u00a0AWHERENESS\u00a0on human trafficking in Romania and Moldova. The exhibition has been arranged to coincide\u00a0with a free\u00a0Human Trafficking Awareness Day Program\u00a0taking place on January 11, 2014 at CRS from 4 \u2013 9 pm featuring two film screenings and a panel discussion.\u00a0The photographs will remain on view from Jan 11 \u2013 31, 2014. Please take this opportunity and direct your attention to\u00a0SocialDocumentary.net,\u00a0which highlights work by photographers around the world shedding light on the tragedy of trafficking. Romania and Moldova are beautiful countries with an ugly problem. Every year, thousands of women, men and children […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1900,"template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[9],"class_list":["post-1897","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tribe_events_cat-crs","cat_crs"],"yoast_head":"\n