Inside Vincent Wechselberger's Intimate Portraits of Queer Sex Workers

Words: Upasana Das

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“I interviewed my friend Maria in London,” said Vincent, “She is talking about how she doesn’t want to be a barista because she gets weird comments. On the other hand, when she has [sex work] clients, they tell her she’s beautiful.” Vincent Wechselberger was studying photography in university and working as a sex worker. At seventeen or sixteen, he started on dating apps when he received a message from an older man asking if he wanted to earn some pocket money. It was always nice to have the extra income, he noted. 

When he decided he wanted his graduation project to destigmatise the lived experiences of sex workers. Through talking to people for two years, finding cheap, bright hotels with heart-shaped mirrors in Bangkok and Berlin designed especially for sexual encounters, and finding out how one friend’s friend was killed during sex work, he realised sex workers share common stories and challenges even in radically different cultures. 

His first photobook, Holes, documented assholes at the WHOLE queer music festival in Germany, where he’s from. At a party when he finds himself vibing with someone, it’s often a sex worker. Wanting to replicate this emotional connection, his second book Ready captures his friends often in blurry early 2000s phone photography, dousing it in universal nostalgia. This is also why he chose showing the process of getting ready through photographing items in their friends’ bags. “It humanises the person,” he said, “So people can like, ’Oh my god, I also have this lipstick or I'm also using this condom brand’.”

When did you first start photography? 

I got my first camera when I was twelve, because my aunt used to take a lot of photos. She lives in the States, and she was visiting our family often, back in Austria. I started to photograph my family members, especially my siblings – my sisters. It was really easy for me, and when I was 17, I got my first analog camera. ‘Ready’ is all analog photography, shot with a Pentax 6X7. 

For my work as an adult, I’m really drawn to capturing my friend circle, my queer friends - my life, basically, because I started doing sex work when I was 18. When outsiders document a specific group, it becomes a bit voyeuristic. Why shouldn’t I do a story about queer sex workers, starting in Berlin and then going to different cities. I wanted to spotlight the individuality of the subjects – their personal agency. 

How did you know people in different cities? I saw someone from a casting agency tagged in your Insta posts. 

I started with friends and others were introduced to me by friends or trusted me. I offered money to show respect and appreciation – so it was more like a transaction with a client – trust existed within the agreement. I have this really dear friend Alice, a trans girl from Venezuela living in Mexico, and I paid her for scouting queer sex workers on the street in Mexico City, because I don't speak any Spanish. 

In Bangkok, I bumped into a trans woman Nalin - she runs a casting agency in Bangkok, and we followed each other on Instagram before. We became really good friends during my stay in Thailand. The first night at Bangkok, I went to this gay street where there are a lot of drag shows and bars, and I just bumped into her, and we had a couple of drinks, went dancing. I asked her if she wants to cast for me, and she introduced me to three trans women living in Bangkok. 

How do you generate trust in these relationships? 

I'm a really outgoing person, and I can make people feel comfortable really quickly. My meetings with the people I photographed weren’t like strict shoots – it was more like meeting for a beer outside of the hotel where we photographed, or outside their apartment, or bedroom. We had a drink, started chatting about work, then realised how different our lives are but still how similar our work routine is. 

I think they trusted me because we have the shared professional background – even though I recognize my own privileged background because I'm white, I'm male presenting, and I don't have to do this type of work. I choose to do it, but many of the individuals I have photographed, it's their only way to make income and also feel comfortable. 

What made you want to like focus on the getting ready aspect because there’s stereotypes about sex work like people just being available – like no prep time needed, or the need to manage your headspace. 

I wanted to show us that we were really strong but also more vulnerable. Because if you click through these websites where escorts present themselves, they're all so pretty. They all went to photo studios or had the perfect lighting for their photos. I also wanted to show another side – what they need or want or use during and before their work. In this one photo, there's an apple, because the person loves to eat apples before having a client. 

I think you can see determination and dedication but also insecurities. And the self-defence. What I do after having a client is go for a walk – because it is emotional work. Just to have a moment for myself and walk it out. Clients can be emotionally draining, or even manipulative, and you have to be really strong in many encounters to build up a wall and defend yourself. It's work, it's not my private life.

Some interviewees said sex work pays well, while some said it doesn’t. Does it depend on location? 

I mostly do sex work in Berlin, and it doesn't pay really well – fem sex workers get paid way more instead. My rate was €250 – that was about three or four years ago. Now, no one really wants to pay that price for an hour. It's different if you have an online profile, if you're in London, in a really nice neighbourhood, going to really nice hotels or if you're standing on a street in Mexico City. There are a lot of people coming from Eastern Europe to Berlin, or other cities in Germany, and working for cheaper. That is also the reason why people don't want to pay more for sex than they were used to. 

Still Switzerland is better to work in. They are nicer, they have more money. Also, Germans are fucking greedy – they don’t wanna pay first off!

A lot of the people photographed were models or people in fashion or the creative industry. Is that something you’ve particularly noticed, with this industry? 

Years ago, there weren’t so many places where older men could meet younger boys. I've talked to so many queer people and many of them have been in sex work or are still doing. Many queer people are also creative people – I do sex work for an additional income. I'm really lucky that I can live on my photography, but I still earn more money with sex work – it’s the plus for me to go on holidays or have a nice dinner with my friends. I often feel very powerful even though I’m in the passive role, because I know they want me, they want my young body, they want my time, they want to be desired or just want me to listen or talk to them.