Le Peau Hésite

Art Direction | Print | Photography

In France, in April 2016, prostitutes' clients became criminals. This had led to protests by prostitutes and associations fearing casualization and increasing insecurity. If prostitution is a decision taken in response to a problem or an event taking place at an instant T, it is neither final or irrevocable. Yet once taken it is very difficult to come back to it because of the dehumanization and the prejudices of which these men and women are victims.
So, how to restore individuality to prostitutes?
Say "prostitution", and we will answer you immediately: "the oldest profession in the world", "badly necessary", "freedom of your body" ... These ready-made opinions are still widely used today, without none of us are looking for more. Here, we would like to change Man’s view of prostitutes in order to break the biggest form of violence they experience on a daily basis: misconceptions and stigma.

Services:Art Direction, Print design, Photography
Collaboration:Maude Bardé
Behance

Mission

What do you think about prostitution? And the penalty for customers? How can we respond when this world seems so far from our daily lives?

The purpose of this book is to enable the reader to come into contact with the actors of prostitution, by discovering their entry into the prostitution system, the influence of prostitution, on their private life, their working and working conditions. life, but also the outlook that we, outsiders, and that prostitutes have on prostitution and on the laws that frame it, until today and their exit, or not, from the prostitution system.
In parallel with the prostitutes' story, there would be that of the clients, their looks, their expectations and their first step in the arms of a prostitute. However, it would be completely independent from the rest of the book and will therefore take the form of a central booklet.

picture of project about prostitution Sara Mirabel

Here, the photograph will echo the testimonies. Indeed, much more than a simple illustration, it will aim to replace these testimonies in the street while giving yet another point of view on what is a prostitute. and all the daily violence they face.

The title

"La Peau Hésite", a beautiful formulation, met by chance at the corner of a Parisian street, fitting perfectly with the theme of prostitution.
"La peau" on the first hand is a direct reference to the carnal aspect, to the body and when we talk about prostitution the first thing that comes to mind is sex.
"L'Hésitation", on the other hand, refers as much to the reluctance of these men (prostitutes or clients) and women to take the step to enter or leave prostitution, as to the difficulty of the population in forging themselves an opinion on the issue of legalizing prostitution, penalizing the client, etc. when we have never been confronted with the reality of this environment.

If, in the street, we generally turn to the physical or the dress of prostitutes, often judged very hastily as "superficial", the homonyms: "poésie" and "peau hésite" creates a double level of reading adding depth to these testimonies but especially to these men and women.

Typographies

Scala is a very complete typographic family comprising, among other things, a version with and a sans serif version, marvelously representing the diversity surrounding the prostitution system (actors, issues, etc.). Note that the design of the Scala is quite hard and dry as the subject, while being elegant and sober.

To change minds

We wanted to share this awareness because it seems urgent to us to change the way people look at prostitution (from statesmen to ordinary citizens to the police). Prostitutes are often very quickly judged as simple-minded, uncultivated, wealthy and superficial. However, all the testimonies that we have read and gathered in this book highlight a desire to show that they are there, present, that they are someone. The choice of words, the turns of phrase are incredibly correct, creating touching testimonies of humanity, of good feelings. We wanted to highlight the diversity of profiles (men / women, young / not so young, graduates / out of school, rich / poor, French / immigrants), feelings; because a "whore" is not necessarily a wanton, siliconized, sex addict woman in a mini skirt along the road. She is a person who deserves respect.

To better meet the needs of prostitutes and promote their safety, 200 people were invited to testify in the National Assembly before the ministers in charge of the law. The problem ? Out of the 200 people, only 15 were prostitutes or ex prostitutes. Furthermore, how can you testify openly and freely on such a complex and personal subject in a place as imposing and destabilizing as the National Assembly, faced with an army of glances directed at you ready to judge you? The result is a stigmatizing law that has been rejected by prostitutes, clients, associations helping prostitutes, but also by the police. In our view, the real problem is not prostitution, or the clients, is that general laws (trafficking in human beings, etc.) are not applied to prostitution.

Le Peau Hésite

Mission

The title

Typographies

To change minds

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