Louisiana Creole people
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| - | '''John Ernest Joseph Bellocq''' ([[1873]] - [[1949]]) was a professional [[photographer]] who worked in [[New Orleans]] during the early 20th century. Bellocq is remembered for his [[haunting]] photographs of the [[prostitution|prostitutes]] of [[Storyville]], New Orleans' legalized [[red light district]]. These have inspired novels, poems and films, most notably in the 1978 film ''[[Pretty Baby]]'' by [[Louis Malle]] and the photography of [[Witkin]]. | ||
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| - | ==Life== | ||
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| - | Bellocq was born in a wealthy white [[Louisiana Creole people|Creole]] family in the [[French Quarter]] of New Orleans. He became known locally as an amateur photographer before setting himself up as a professional, making his living mostly by taking photographic records of landmarks and of ships and machinery for local companies. However, he also took personal photographs of the hidden side of local life, notably the [[opium]] dens in [[Chinatown]] and the prostitutes of Storyville. These were only known to a small number of his acquaintances. In the latter part of his life, he lived alone and acquired a reputation for eccentricity and unfriendliness. According to people who knew him in late life, he showed little interest in anything other than photography. In his younger days, however, he seems to have been something of a dandy. | ||
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| - | Bellocq died in 1949 and was buried in [[Saint Louis Cemetery]] in New Orleans. | ||
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| - | After his death, most of his negatives and prints were destroyed. However, the Storyville negatives were later found concealed in a sofa. In 1971, a selection of the photographs were published in a book entitled ''Storyville Portraits''. They had been made into distinctive prints by [[Lee Friedlander]], using the whole of the glass negatives. These photographs were immediately acclaimed for their unique poignancy and beauty. | ||
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| - | A more extensive collection of Friedlander's prints, entitled ''Bellocq: Photographs from Storyville'', was published in 1996. | ||
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| - | In recent times, a significant number of prints from Bellocq's own studio have come to light, these are typical professional photographs of the day, such as portraits and local views. | ||
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| - | ==The Storyville Photographs== | ||
| - | All the photographs are portraits of individual women. Some are nude, some dressed respectably, others posed as if acting a mysterious narrative. Many of the negatives were badly damaged, in part deliberately. This encouraged speculation about the reasons why they had been taken and later violated. Many of the faces had been scraped out; whether this was done by E. J. Bellocq himself, his [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] priest brother who inherited them after E. J.'s death, or someone else is unknown. However Bellocq himself is the most likely candidate, since the damage was done while the emulsion was still wet. In a few photographs the women wore masks. It is likely that the faces were scraped out for the same reason that masks were used - to protect the identities of the women. | ||
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| - | Some prints made by Bellocq himself have since surfaced. These are far more conventional than the full-negative prints made by Friedlander. | ||
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| - | The influence of Bellocq's violated negatives and bodies can be seen in the work of the photographer [[Joel-Peter Witkin]]. | ||
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| - | ==Bellocq in literature and film== | ||
| - | The mysteries surrounding Bellocq have inspired several fictional versions of his life, notably the [[Louis Malle]] film ''[[Pretty Baby (1978 film)|Pretty Baby]]'', in which Bellocq was played by [[Keith Carradine]]. He is also a character in [[Michael Ondaatje]]'s novel ''[[Coming Through Slaughter]]'' and the central figure in Peter Everett's novel ''Bellocq's Women''. All these works take considerable creative liberty, portraying a fictional Bellocq in many ways contrary to the known facts of his life and personality. | ||
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| - | The photographs have also inspired imaginative literature about the women depicted in them. This includes several collections of poems, notably Brooke Bergan's ''Storyville: A Hidden Mirror'' and Natasha Trethewey's ''Bellocq's Ophelia''. | ||
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| - | == External links == | ||
| - | * [http://www.corpse.org/issue_10/gallery/bellocq/ The Last Days of Ernest J. Bellocq] Good article by Rex Rose with Bellocq photos | ||
| - | * [http://www.masters-of-photography.com/B/bellocq/bellocq.html Masters of Photography] | ||
| + | '''Louisiana Creole people''' traditionally are descended from [[French people|French]] and [[Spanish people|Spanish]] colonial settlers in the French Quarter of New Orleans. They were Whites known as French Creoles. Later immigration from [[German people|German]], [[Italian people|Italian]], [[English people|English]] and [[Irish people|Irish]] immigrants intermixed with the French and Spanish define today's modern White Creole people and culture.These people are centered in the greater New Orleans area, both city and suburbs. The people and culture of mixed race Creoles, Known as Creoles of Color or Black Creoles, derived from European ancestry mixed with African (mostly West African or Black Haitian) and some Native American ancestry. This was due to popular unions of White Creole men and Black slave Women and/or free Black women; these women chose these men and were not forced. | ||
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Louisiana Creole people traditionally are descended from French and Spanish colonial settlers in the French Quarter of New Orleans. They were Whites known as French Creoles. Later immigration from German, Italian, English and Irish immigrants intermixed with the French and Spanish define today's modern White Creole people and culture.These people are centered in the greater New Orleans area, both city and suburbs. The people and culture of mixed race Creoles, Known as Creoles of Color or Black Creoles, derived from European ancestry mixed with African (mostly West African or Black Haitian) and some Native American ancestry. This was due to popular unions of White Creole men and Black slave Women and/or free Black women; these women chose these men and were not forced.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Louisiana Creole people" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
