About this artwork
In the early years of the 20th century, the commercial photographer E. J. Bellocq made a series of strangely personal images in Storyville, the red-light district of New Orleans; many years later, the glass-plate negatives were discovered and printed by photographer Lee Friedlander. According to the accounts of jazz musicians and photographers who knew him, Bellocq was a difficult person. But he must have appealed to the inhabitants of the brothels, who collaborated with him on a series of intimate, revealing portraits that are anything but pornographic in effect. In many of Bellocq’s images, the identity is hidden, either by a mask or by purposeful damage to the negative; it is unknown whether the defacement was done by the photographer or by the women he photographed.
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Status
- On View, Gallery 1
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Department
- Photography and Media
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Artist
- E. J. Bellocq
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Title
- Storyville Portrait
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Place
- United States (Artist's nationality)
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Date
- Made 1907–1917
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Medium
- Gelatin silver printing out paper print
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Dimensions
- Image/paper: 25.2 × 20.3 cm (9 15/16 × 8 in.)
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Credit Line
- Purchased with funds provided by Gilda Buchbinder
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Reference Number
- 2010.511
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
