De Zone

Night-working street girls tell us - in aesthetic captivating images - about a typically-Dutch phenomenon, ''de afwerkplek'' - roughly translatable as ''come place'' - booths where sex-hungry men park their cars and get a ''quickie'' with a prostitute. Ben van Lieshout take us on a strange exploration among what could be called a red-light district without windows or doors. The camera pans booth after booth, fence after fence, shed after shed. During the day they are beautiful demarcations in dazzling colours, during the night decadent stalls. It's the Dutch variant of public ''wanking off'' booths where car-driving men meet prostitutes to ease pressure - a sort of a drive-in-brothel, really. During the day it resembles a piece of modern designed parking architecture and transforms when the night falls into a well visited mall where getting a blow-job stands highest in the shopping list. We are talking business when the cars arrive. With the lights on they slowly move in circles and seen from above they resemble glow-worms hunting for their nocturnal meal. It's a strange mixture of complete anonymity and silent fellowship -with the money held by the hand behind the wheel they are all looking for the same thing but the walls grant them a moment's seclusion in the middle of the public market. Then in the morning the street-sweepers wash away with powerful hoses the condoms and paper-napkins. Soon all the signs of nocturnal activity will be gone and booths and their baskets will once again be empty and deserted.

Producent
Ben van Lieshout: Manus
Ben van Lieshout: Foto
Stef Tijdink: Musik
Harry de Wit: Talat språk
Dutch