Born Into Brothels

In a rare and inspiring example of the way art can both reflect and alleviate human suffering, photojournalist Zana Briski's wrenching documentary traces her valiant use of photography to help children trapped in one of the most wretched places on earth. Briski first came to northern Calcutta hoping to capture the lives of illegal sex workers living and working in the city's squalid red-light district. Knowing she would never gain access to this hermetic world as an outsider — let alone an outsider with a camera — Briski boldly took up residence in the polluted, labyrinthine neighborhood and began photographing not just the women, but the many children born into the ...