By Josia Jourdan
Vincent Wechselberger has been working as a part-time sex worker since he came to Berlin. He has now published a book with pictures of his colleagues’ everyday lives. Here he talks about his experiences.
Vincent Wechselberger, selfportrait. Image from the photo book ‘Ready’ by Vincent Wechselberger.
Vincent Wechselberger stands outside a trendy café in Berlin-Friedrichshain, wearing a reddish-brown leather jacket, short tousled curls and a mischievous grin. He is holding a copy of his photo book Ready in his hands. As he orders his coffee with oat milk, he talks about current exhibitions of his photographs – and mentions in a subordinate clause that he is a sex worker himself.
Wechselberger grew up in a village in Austria and came to Berlin alone at the age of 18. He worked at the Anne Frank Centre, accompanied exhibitions and explored the nightlife on the side. Berlin showed him a new perspective and brought him into contact with other young queers.
‘I just had an exhibition in my home town of St. Pölten in which I photographed queer people from the region,’ says the 26-year-old. He called it ‘Home Coming’ because he himself had left at the time. ‘I thought I was alone, the only one. It’s important to me that something changes, that queer people become more visible and that communities develop in more rural areas too.’
Wechselberger seems balanced and reflective, but he remembers that it wasn’t always like that. His first years in Berlin were characterised by wild parties, sex and drugs. He hasn’t left that behind him yet, but he has become more controlled, makes more conscious decisions and needs to get out of the city from time to time.
Curiosity and a certain naivety also led to his start as a sex worker. Like many young men, he kept receiving messages on dating apps offering sexual encounters as well as pocket money. That was and is easy money, as I’m attracted to older men anyway,’ he says. He is not ashamed.
He has been working as a part-time sex worker for eight years now. Most clients find him on Hunqz, a platform for queer sex workers that is linked to the Planet Romeo dating platform. Their experiences are different. In the past, he often met his clients at an advanced age, allowing himself to be used and relinquishing control. The validation he received from his clients’ desires was just as important to him as the money.
Fulfilling the fantasies of the clients
Image from the photo book ‘Ready’ by Vincent Wechselberger.
He fulfilled his customers’ fantasies and quickly realised how much fun he had playing different roles. For most customers, he is not Vincent, but Liam. Sometimes naive, sometimes culturally educated, then again a Berlin party kid – he enjoys living out different sides of his personality.
I quickly realised that I was often not booked for the sex, but for the conversations and the togetherness. That’s why his offer also includes the so-called boyfriend experience, where he is sometimes booked for a whole weekend and includes shared experiences as well as sex.
At the same time, there were moments that showed him that he had to change something if he wanted to be mentally stable. Because in addition to the sexual service, you also take on the baggage of your clients, some of whom share very intimate feelings and experiences with you during the meetings.
After two years of therapy, which has now been converted into monthly coaching, Vincent Wechselberger feels at peace with himself again and has more confidence in his work. He is also encouraged by his circle of friends and the support of his family.
He also realises that he is not financially dependent on his other professional activities. This means he can charge higher prices, doesn’t have to sell himself for 50 euros and chooses his customers primarily on the basis of whether the atmosphere is right. Appearance doesn’t play a role for me. Hygiene and respect, on the other hand, are very important to me.
Flown in to Paris
Some encounters were real highlights for him. For a while, Wechselberger was flown in from Paris by a rich couple to spend weekends together. ‘I was picked up at the airport by a private chauffeur and taken to a five-star hotel. Apart from sex, it was mainly about doing activities together. We visited museums, cultural events and went out for a fancy meal. I love that kind of thing!’
Many of his clients also find the fact that he is a photographer interesting. He studied photography at the Ostkreuz School of Photography and has been working intensively on visual documentation. ‘I realised relatively quickly that my final project would be about queer sex work,’ he recalls.
Two years ago, he developed an initial concept and photographed his good friend Oskar as the first person for the photo book. ‘It all started here in Berlin. We shot in a typical Berlin backyard house, had conversations and I photographed the contents of his pocket.’ The idea behind it: What does it take to meet a client?
Intimate conversations complement the pictures
The result is Ready, Wechselberger’s first photo book (130 pages, €40). In it, he documents the preparation routines of various sex workers in different metropolises. He travelled from Berlin to London, Vienna, New York, Mexico City and Bangkok to meet colleagues, take a look at the scenes and take photos. This not only resulted in special photographs, but also intimate conversations.
He paid all the participants. The financial situation of some of them was too precarious. Nevertheless, he believes that everyone does sex work of their own free will. Of course, some are more financially dependent, but it was important to him not to focus on forced prostitution.
‘Even though we all live in different cultural and socio-economic structures, our struggles and beautiful moments hardly differ from one another,’ he says and explains how an acquaintance from Mexico City brought him into contact with trans women who work on the streets. The centre section of the photo book contains the conversations in text form. It is about moments of appreciation, self-protection and a working day that is rarely illuminated so honestly and openly.
For Wechselberger, his photo book is a start. He currently has hardly any time for sex work. ‘I miss it, but at the same time I’m now travelling the world for exhibitions, I get to talk about topics that are close to my heart and I’m already looking forward to more photo projects.’ Balance and variety are important to him, he likes to keep busy and then ends the interview because he has to leave for his shift in a neighbourhood bar.
Vincent Wechselberger, selfportrait. Image from the photo book ‘Ready’ by Vincent Wechselberger.
Sex worker pocket contents seen by Vincent Wechselberger. Image from the photo book ‘Ready’ by Vincent Wechselberger.
The article was published first in German by Tagesspiegel. Translated by GAY45.
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