I worked as a prostitute from a very young age; it wasn’t the only thing I did at the time, but subconsciously, my life revolved around it. I worked in prostitution in Uruguay and Argentina, where I met more than 400 prostitutes and visited more than 20 different locations. My experience taught me that there is this other side to prostitution that is not depicted by society. For example, not all prostitutes are abused or victims of some terrible circumstances.
This series of self portraits titled “Camilla” juxtapose me in the past and present in a continuous dialogue. The past is represented by “Camilla“, my old nom de guerre, resurged from the past. In each image, she is in dialogue with my other character “Veronika” , who represents me today.
This series challenges the sensationalist image of prostitute women, as one that is always exposed to undesirable situations. My intention is to present another side of the coin, one that reflects my personal experience.
Veronika Marquéz
Veronika Marquéz was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1979, where she carried out her first performances with a theater and dance group. At age 20, she moved to Buenos Aires, where she studied at the ARGRA Photojournalism School, and at the Andy Goldstein School of Creative Photography. Since 2006, she has lived in Spain, where she completed a master’s degree in Photojournalism at Madrid’s Escuela de Fotografía y Centro de Imagen (EFTI). There, she specialized in film lighting techniques applied to photography, and also began working with video formats. Veronika has exhibited in numerous solo exhibitions, including at the Madrid’s Finnish Cultural Center, My Name is Lolita and Galeria Cero, La Tabacalera, and at the prestigious Da2 Museum in Salamanca.
In 2010, Veronika’s project, “Camila,” was selected for exhibition at the Stephen Cohen Gallery in Los Angeles, and Radio Televisión Española’s Metrópolis broadcasted her video “Santoral del Sábado.” She has also participated in numerous international festivals, arts fairs, and collectives in various countries, including Greece, Cambodia, Israel, France, and the United States.
She currently lives between Madrid and New York City, where she’s working on her visual art.
