Henrik Malmström

A Minor Wrongdoing

In his work A Minor wrongdoing Henrik Malmström is observing illegal prostitution under his living room window in St. Georg, Hamburg. Since the 'Contact Prohibition Ordinance', adopted in early 2012, prostitution can lead to heavy fines and thereby questions the government surveillance of individuals. Residents are encouraged to report suspicious persons and so it is usually the women who prostitute - not their clients - that are confronted with police checks and controls. Malmström takes the voyeuristic position of the observer at the window, as well. But the individuals he documents get lost in the grainy black of his images; they are only dimly visible in the darkness of the night. Their activities remain unclear. The distance to the portrayed explores the boundary between private and public space, and puts monitoring mechanisms, assessment criteria and alleged unambiguities up for discussion.