The Life and Work of E.J. Bellocq
Photographer E. J. Bellocq was best known for his images of the women of New Orleans' red light district, Storyville. While his Storyville work remained secret during his professional life, the project gained international acclaim after a selection of photographs were discovered following his death in
An eccentric loner, the mysteries surrounding Bellocq's life and his uncovered photographs of prostitutes inspired books, poems and fictional accounts of his life. In the film, Pretty Baby, Brooke Shields played the year old daughter of one of Bellocq's prostitute subjects during the height of New Orleans' red light district. Keith Carradine stared as Bellocq.
E.J. Bellocq's Early Life: Storyville
Born John Ernest Joseph Bellocq () to wealthy and aristocratic, white Creole parents, E.J. Bellocq grew up in New Orleans' French Quarter. His family lived close to the French Opera House, where even school children regularly attended performances in formal dress. Bellocq attended the College of the Immaculate Conception and worked at his father's wholesale firm. He became obsessed with photography, making a living as an amateur photographer
New Orleans photographer Ernest J. “E. J.” Bellocq gained posthumous fame for his portraits of prostitutes made in Storyville, the legalized red-light district of New Orleans. Relatively little is known about Bellocq or his reasons for making the portraits; eighty-nine glass negatives for the photos were discovered after the photographer’s death. Though the photos appear to have been made around , they did not come to the public’s attention until the early s, when photographer Lee Friedlander exhibited them at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and published a group of them in Storyville Portraits.
Early Life and Career
Born August 19, , in New Orleans, E. J. Bellocq was the son of Paul Bellocq and Marie Aldige Bellocq. Census records indicate that Bellocq’s paternal and maternal grandfathers migrated to the United States from France. He appears to have been raised in a Catholic household and his younger brother, Leon, eventually became a Jesuit priest. Between about and , E. J. Bellocq made his living as a commercial photographer in New Orleans. Though little of his work as a commercial photographer seems to have survived, it is known that around he served as company ph
E. J. Bellocq &#; Photos and Artwork
Ernest Joseph Bellocq was an American photographer born in New Orleans to a Creole family. He is famous for his haunting photographs of prostitutes in Storyville &#; New Orleans’ legalized red-light district around the turn of the 20th century. Little is known about his creative intentions or personal life, adding to his mystique as a photographer.
Bellocq’s portraits captured the women of Storyville at ease within their environments, often showing them posing with gentle smiles or gazing off-camera with an air of introspection. His photography style and use of large-format cameras offered viewers a unique perspective into life in New Orleans’ infamous district during the early s.
After Bellocq’s death in , eighty-nine glass plate negatives were discovered in his desk by a family friend. They depicted female prostitutes from Storyville, all taken circa when he was working commercially as a professional photographer in New Orleans. His work received renewed interest when two art students bought some of his negatives from an antiques dealer in , leading to exhibits and publications showcasing Bellocq&#;s exceptional photographs.
Today, E.J.
E. J. Bellocq
Ernest Joseph Bellocq was an American professional photographer who worked in New Orleans during the early 20th century. Bellocq is remembered for his haunting photographs of the prostitutes of Storyville, New Orleans' legalized red-light district. These have inspired novels, poems and films.
Bellocq was born into a wealthy family of French créole origins 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. He had been something of a dandy in his early days, while he lived alone in the latter part of his life and acquired a reputation for eccentricity and unfriendliness. According to acquaintances from that period, he showed little interest in anything other than photography.
Bellocq died in , and was buried in Saint Louis Cemetery No. 3 in New Orleans. After
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