Storyville Portrait
c. 1912, printed c. 1970
Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
sheet: 25.1 x 20.2 cm (9 7/8 x 7 15/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Patrons' Permanent Fund
Accession Number
1995.36.27
Art Historical Context
E.J. Bellocq's *Storyville Portrait* (c. 1912, printed c. 1970) offers a poignant glimpse into the vibrant yet shadowy world of Storyville, New Orleans' red-light district that thrived from 1897 1917. As a reclusive photographer working in the early 20th century,ocq captured intimate portraits the district's residents—often sex workers—with a remarkable tenderness and humanity rarely seen in that era's photography. This gelatin silver print, measuring 25.1 x 20.2 cm, exemplifies his direct, unadorned style, emphasizing the subject's dignity amid a marginalized subculture. The medium of gelati...
About the Artist
E.J. Bellocq
Ernest Joseph Bellocq (1873–1949) was born into an aristocratic white Creole family in New Orleans on August 19, 1873. His father, Paul Bellocq, worked as a bookkeeper, while his mother, Marie, came from a wealthy French merchant family; his younger brother, Leo, became a Jesuit priest and Bellocq's sole heir. Raised near the French Opera House in comfortable circumstances, Bellocq received a clas...