Art & Identity in New Orleans

This book was different from the rest of the works that we have covered in class. The foremost and most obvious trait of this book is that it is a collection of poems about a sex worker. A close second is the fact that this book focuses on a mixed woman of color as the main character, surrounded by women of a similar background in a ‘colored brothel,’ considered a rarity in New Orleans. Ophelia, the main protagonist, is a woman of mixed race and has been groomed from a young age. By her mother, she was taught to curtsy properly, given arsenic to whiten her skin to appear pretty for her father. By the owner/matriarch of the brothel she is trapped in, Countess P___ trains her in dance, entertainment, and courtesan mannerisms. The Countess teaches all new girls how to become appealing to customers and photographers alike, to ‘let him see whatever he needs.’ (pg 11) Throughout parts two and three of the book, Ophelia observes her surroundings, speaking of her life, troubles, and lamentations, in letters to her friend Constance and her diary. The time of the letters spans from 1910-12. Other poems are picture descriptions and imagined stories of the prostitutes–the women are described as bawds or women who have given themselves over to lewdness–photographed by Bellocq, which portray the women as delightfully human, a novel idea ahead of Bellocq’s time, unshared with the public.