Images of sex work in early twentieth-century America : gender, sexuality and race in the Storyville portraits / Mollie Le Veque.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Le Veque, Mollie, author.

Series:

International library of modern and contemporary art.

International library of modern and contemporary art

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bellocq, E. J--Criticism and interpretation.

Bellocq, E. J.

Photography, Artistic.

Portrait photography--Louisiana--New Orleans--History.

Portrait photography.

Prostitutes--Louisiana--New Orleans--History--Pictorial works.

Prostitutes.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 202 pages).

Edition:

First edition.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019

Place of Publication:

London : I.B. Tauris, 2019.

Summary:

"Storyville was the infamous red-light district of New Orleans. It was a world where normative social values didn't apply and was shrouded in mystery and myth until the photographs of E.J. Bellocq were rediscovered. Bellocq's depictions of Storyville's sex workers have typically been treated as tragic, ominous and emblematic of New Orleans' singularity. Yet, such interpretations have projected gendered stereotypes of frailty and victimhood onto the women they portrayed. In Images of Sex Work, Mollie LeVeque interrogates these glib readings and argues that sex work was a routine aspect of life in a modern city. She supports this theory by examining a range of cultural forms such as crime fiction, illustrations and paintings from contemporary urban centres like Paris, London and New York. In doing so, she advances the new argument that Bellocq humanised his subjects, de-sensationalised sex work and gave these women the dignity they were all too often denied."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Acknowledgements Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1: (Self-)Representing Storyville Women Chapter 2: The 'White Slave' and the Question of Ambiguity Chapter 3: A Fog of Violence, Voyeurism, and Crime Chapter 4: The 'Paris-ification' of New Orleanian Vice

Conclusion

Notes Bibliography Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed May 16, 2019)

Contains:

Bellocq, E. J. Works. Selections.

ISBN:

9781501356001

1501356003

9781786725851

1786725851

9781786735850

1786735857

OCLC:

1101186531