In this paper, I examine E.J. Bellocq's \"Storyville Portraits\" within art historical and feminist historiographies. One of the most infamously alluring parts of New Orleans at the turn of the century, the Storyville red light district is hardly part of contemporary American consciousness today. Part of my work involves an evaluation of what a lack of archival resources does to perceptions of Storyville and more broadly, the stereotypical late Victorian “fallen women” that has been read into history - both by historians and popular culture. However, my focal point is indeed the portraits and how they might be re-read and fruitfully explored when considering a variety of pertinent factors that influenced representations of sex work in late 19th century New Orleans.
","abstract_html":"<p>In this paper, I examine E.J. Bellocq's "Storyville Portraits" within art historical and feminist historiographies. One of the most infamously alluring parts of New Orleans at the turn of the century, the Storyville red light district is hardly part of contemporary American consciousness today. Part of my work involves an evaluation of what a lack of archival resources does to perceptions of Storyville and more broadly, the stereotypical late Victorian “fallen women” that has been read into history - both by historians and popular culture. However, my focal point is indeed the portraits and how they might be re-read and fruitfully explored when considering a variety of pertinent factors that influenced representations of sex work in late 19th century New Orleans.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Le Veque, Mollie S"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Cultural Studies, MA","degree_level":"Open Access Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"School of Arts and Humanities","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Andrew Long","Henry Krips"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:39:44Z","subjects":["E. J. Bellocq","Storyville","New Orleans","Prostitution","Urban Studies","African American Studies","American Art and Architecture","American Studies","History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology","History of Gender","Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Women's Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/94","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Andrew Long","Henry Krips"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Le Veque, Mollie S"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-04-22T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["School of Arts and Humanities","Cultural Studies with Museum Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Cultural Studies, MA"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["E. J. Bellocq","Storyville","New Orleans","Prostitution","Urban Studies","African American Studies","American Art and Architecture","American Studies","History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology","History of Gender","Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Women's Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/94"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In this paper, I examine E.J. Bellocq's \"Storyville Portraits\" within art historical and feminist historiographies. One of the most infamously alluring parts of New Orleans at the turn of the century, the Storyville red light district is hardly part of contemporary American consciousness today. Part of my work involves an evaluation of what a lack of archival resources does to perceptions of Storyville and more broadly, the stereotypical late Victorian “fallen women” that has been read into history - both by historians and popular culture. However, my focal point is indeed the portraits and how they might be re-read and fruitfully explored when considering a variety of pertinent factors that influenced representations of sex work in late 19th century New Orleans.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Dirty Pictures—Not for Sale: Re-reading Bellocq’s Storyville Portraits"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Andrew Long","Henry Krips"],"dc:creator":["Le Veque, Mollie S"],"dc:date.available":["2015-04-22T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["In this paper, I examine E.J. Bellocq's \"Storyville Portraits\" within art historical and feminist historiographies. One of the most infamously alluring parts of New Orleans at the turn of the century, the Storyville red light district is hardly part of contemporary American consciousness today. Part of my work involves an evaluation of what a lack of archival resources does to perceptions of Storyville and more broadly, the stereotypical late Victorian “fallen women” that has been read into history - both by historians and popular culture. However, my focal point is indeed the portraits and how they might be re-read and fruitfully explored when considering a variety of pertinent factors that influenced representations of sex work in late 19th century New Orleans.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/94"],"dc:subject":["E. J. Bellocq","Storyville","New Orleans","Prostitution","Urban Studies","African American Studies","American Art and Architecture","American Studies","History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology","History of Gender","Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies","Women's Studies"],"dc:title":["Dirty Pictures—Not for Sale: Re-reading Bellocq’s Storyville Portraits"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["School of Arts and Humanities","Cultural Studies with Museum Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Cultural Studies, MA"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:39:44Z"}