E. J. Bellocq, Storyville Portrait, ca. 1912. © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.
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E. J. Bellocq, Storyville Portrait, ca. 1912. © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.
E. J. Bellocq, Storyville Portrait, ca. 1912. © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.
E. J. Bellocq, Storyville Portrait, ca. 1912. © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.
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E. J. Bellocq: Storyville Portraits, installation view, 2008, SFU Gallery. Photo: SFU LIDC.
E.J. Bellocq: Storyville Portraits
May 10 – June 14, 2008
SFU Gallery
E.J. Bellocq's Storyville Portraits were made in New Orleans between 1911 and 1913, in the red-light district known as Storyville. The glass plate negatives were discovered after Bellocq's death in 1949 and were eventually purchased by American photographer Lee Friedlander in the 1960s. Friedlander made prints from the negatives on printing-out paper exposed to natural light for several days—a technique used in Bellocq's time—and then “aged” them through toning. Ever since their first exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1970, these images have become known worldwide; this is their first showing in Vancouver.
Bellocq's photographs appear to be simple portraits, yet they remain infinitely complex and contested photographic territory. They offer privileged access to a semi-private world that has been, depending on your view, either invaded by or sensitively portrayed by his camera. In either case, the images raise issues surrounding the representation of women as well as their place and perceived value in society, both then and now. This exhibition comes at a time when prostitution is a growing global issue. Bellocq's portraits are, as Susan Sontag has pointed out, “one of the most admired recoveries in photography's widening, ever incomplete history”.
Storyville Portraits are a generous loan from Carole and Howard Tanenbaum, Toronto. Curated by Bill Jeffries.
Events
Panel Discussion and Film Screening
Saturday, May 10, 2008, 2pm
Speakers
Mary Lynn Stewart (Chair, Women's Studies, SFU) will discuss photographs of women in fin-de-siècle France, including representations of women in French bordellos.
Priya Ramu (Host-on-leave, CBC Radio's On the Coast) will screen the documentary she co-produced for VSO Canada, called Brothel Justice, about a group of sex workers in Bangladesh. Followed by a reception.
Lunchtime Tours of the Exhibition
Tuesday, May 27, 12:05pm and 12:35pm
Wednesday, May 28, 12:05pm and 12:35pm
Thursday, May 29, 12:05pm and 12:35pm