The series of 12 documentary photographs on display are the brainchild of French photographer Raphaël Dallaporta (29), who has an established reputation as both a commercial photographer and one who pursues personal work with a strong social awareness message.
‘’I began this particular project, Domestic Slavery, in 2004, and showed it for the first time in 2006,’’ Dallaporta told reporters gathered on September 6, 2010 for a press conference to mark the launch of the Geneva exhibition.
Since 2006, the 12 photographs, each of which is accompanied by a short text by French journalist Ondine Millot telling the story of a domestic slave, have been shown in cities in France, Holland, Austria and Spain, and not least in Lausanne (Switzerland) at the world-class Elysée photography museum, but also at the 2010 New York Photo Festival.
Dallaporta’s Domestic Slavery Photos: Not Sensationalist
The photographs are of buildings, not people. They were all taken in Paris and its outskirts, and show the very ordinary facades of houses and apartment buildings behind which real-life cases played out that later came to the attention of the police and in most cases were tried in court.
Dallaporta sought out the addresses based on official documents. ‘’It wasn’t about whether the slaveholders still lived there or not, it wasn’t directly about the slaveholders at all; it was to document these totally workaday, utterly banal facades, and then through the stories have the contrast with the horror that went on behind them.’’
The slaveholders included diplomats, a CEO, and a well-known French publisher, but also people of far humbler station, some of them expats who brought over people from their countries of origin as slave labor to work in their homes. The slaves in these instances were all females aged between 12 and 42; they came from Romania, Morocco, India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Mali, Senegal, Togo.
More about Raphaël Dallaporta’s Domestic Slavery Series
Showing objects – buildings, bricks and mortar – to bring home the hideous plight some human beings inflict on other human beings by objectifying them proves a very effective means. One approaches the photos, starts to read, and quickly sheer disbelief sets in heightened by the contrast of the events with the everydayness of the settings where the stories took place.
According to the police or court documents, slaves were unpaid, overworked, had no time off; some were locked in, others timed when they went out to grocery shop and in one case forbidden to utter any words except thank you, hello and goodbye. They often slept on mats in a child’s room or bathroom, and were badly fed: one had the right to a box of cornflakes per month and ‘’permission’’ to eat the leftovers from the slaveholders’ plates. Some were beaten, tortured, mutilated, and raped.
Since their passports were confiscated and they had no social ties, in many cases did not speak the language, the terrified slaves—mostly lured to France on the pretext that this was an opportunity, educational and/or financial—saw no option but to submit. In some cases they were able to escape; one was thrown out on the streets. In other cases, a neighbor, a house painter, a concerned shopper who saw an emaciated young woman clad in a tablecloth crying in a store, suspected wrongdoing and helped bring the cases to light.
If Dallaporta opted not to show the former slaves, whose real names have been replaced in their stories, it is out of a refusal to slot them into a ‘’victim’’ category, and let them get on with creating new lives. But there is another reason: while some slaves are procured through sources like families back home, others are trafficked by ruthless criminal gangs who would not hesitate to exact retribution, either from the former slaves or their families, for being exposed.
Dallaporta’s Domestic Slavery Pictures Are ‘’Generic Examples’’
Dallaporta describes his photos as ‘’generic examples’’, pointing out that this sort of abuse takes place around the world. ‘’Human trafficking is the third biggest industry after arms and drug trafficking,’’ he says. Fabienne Bugnon, Director General of Geneva’s cantonal Office of Human Rights, who also attended the September 6 press conference, pointed out that human trafficking takes three forms: ‘’sexual, domestic [labor], and the sale of organs.‘’ Some put the number of trafficked individuals in Switzerland at 1,500; others say the figure is 3,000 or more.
Mme Bugnon stated that an awareness-and-action campaign that includes players like the police and hospitals has been launched in Geneva so that responses are appropriate and effective when they are faced with or suspect trafficking issues such as domestic slavery.
The presence of Geneva City Councilor Rémy Pagani was even further indication of the determination of local authorities to raise consciousness about the problem, whence the permission to publicly post 600 copies of the photos with texts at strategic points around Geneva. Each copy bears the address of a Dallaporta website from which the whole series of images and stories (in French and in English) can be downloaded for free.
The Domestic Slavery series can also be viewed at the Imaginaid gallery near Geneva’s main train station until September 29.
According to ILO (International Labour Organization, Geneva) estimates, 'there are at least 2.4 million trafficked persons at any point in time'...and 'annual profits generated from trafficking in human beings are as high as 32 billion USD.'
Update: on March 7, 2011 CNN launched its Freedom Project - Ending Modern-Day Slavery. For a year, it will laser its considerable resources world-wide at the problem of human trafficking and can be expected to play a significant role in raising the profile of this issue. For more, click here.
Gail Mangold-Vine - Based in Geneva, Switzerland, Gail Mangold-Vine is the author of two books. Her work as a journalist is published worldwide.
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