The Storyville Portraits are photographs of the sex workers of Storyville, New Orlean’s red-light district.  The pictures were taken by E.J. Bellocq in the 1910’s.  The 89 photographs depict women, some nude, some dressed, some masked.  The women are shown in brothels and backyards.  For the most part, they look relaxed, happy and proud to pose.  Some of the negatives are damaged, the faces scratched out, though it is unclear by whom.

E. J. Bellocq (1873-1949) was an American photographer.  He was active in New Orleans, mostly photographing landmarks, ships and machinery.  His pictures of sex workers were known only to a few friends during his lifetime.  After his death, the negatives were lost, only to be rediscovered twenty years later.  In 1970, the Museum of Modern Art staged Storyville Portraits, an exhibition of Lee Friedlander’s prints of the negatives, revealing the photographs to the world.  Bellocq also photographed opium dens in Chinatown.

The Storyville Portraits are gorgeous.  They are unforgettable.  They open a window into these women’s lives.

S. Gray

February 2025