David Benjamin Coffey

One More Game

davidbenjamincoffey — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:25:17 +0000

This is the first video I shot in March 2009 in Dupont Circle, Washington DC.

Thai Blood Protest

davidbenjamincoffey — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 01:27:11 +0000

Shot in March 2010, this protest by the anti-government protestors targeted the Democratic Party’s headquarters and then-Prime Minister Abhisit’s residence. Protestors were unsure of the exact meaning, there’s a good exposition here at the Guardian.

Breaking the Circle – Homelessness in D.C.

davidbenjamincoffey — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:11:51 +0000

This video was produced for Bill Gentile’s Backpack Journalism class at American University and chronicles a few days in the life of the men living at a locked-down shelter in northwest DC.

Choosing prostitution in Thailand; video produced for VJMovement

davidbenjamincoffey — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 17:34:25 +0000

Sex workers on Soi Cowboy

This picture links to a story I produced for VJMovement, a Netherlands-based online company. Prostitution is not an easy subject to tackle, but too many journalists and NGO’s oversimplify the whole of the sex trade in Southeast Asia to be supplied only by unwilling and/or trafficked women.

Traffickers should be prosecuted and the plight of those women deserves to be heard. However, there are thousands of other women who choose this profession because of the lack of other options to them in the Thai economy. Upward mobility is very difficult, and although there are some who are in it for the easy money, many others feel pressure from their family to provide, and this work allows them to do so.

I hope this piece enlightens another side to the sex economy without seeming to glamorize or gloss over the dark aspects of it.