“Women’s bodies hide as much as they reveal. I thought of Aphrodite, working single mothers, odalisques, adulterers and enigmas...The thought of how they got there was deeply troubling. My camera was a passport into a gray, hidden world; the result of a liberal society where free will is a question mark.”

Malerie Marder

While traveling to The Netherlands for an exhibition of her work, Malerie Marder became aware of the extremely diverse population of women who support themselves and their families through legal prostitution. Begun in 2008 and concluded in 2013, the series includes images of women of all ages and ethnicities. During that time, and over the course of many transatlantic trips, she meditated on the separate realities behind and in front of her lens.