Betel nut girls

I saw these images of betel nut girls from Taiwan in the back gallery of Yancey Richardson and found out that they were done by Masato Seto. He was born in Udon Thani, Thailand (a place I've actually passed through), to a Vietnamese mother and Japanese father. Interesting. He grew up in Japan and studied with Daido Moriyama. Betel nut girls are a bit of a specialty and weird tourist attraction from Taiwan. They even have a wiki entry. These girls sit in a small booth, with lots of mirrors, glass and flashing neon lights. They sell their looks along with a box of betel nuts, a stimulant that many truckers chomp on. Anyhow Reagan Louie also did a series with betel nut girls . I thought about photographing them until my cousins told me about their ties with the mob and how my camera would be stolen and I would be damaged.





(images from Yancey Richardson)