I'm back and free to write whatever I please! I had my last exam yesterday. And to celebrate a friend and I went to Covent Garden to celebrate by tucking into some lovely Thali. Being in Covent Garden got me thinking about its rich history of vice and prostitution.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, it enjoyed the status as London's prime Red Light District, peppered with brothels that catered to a variety of tastes. Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies (1795-1797) was a directory of prostitutes in the area, written by 'impoverished Irish Poet', Samuel Derrick . It provided not only the biographical details of the prostitutes, but also described their appearance and personality and listed their sexual specialities, too. Costing two shillings and sixpence, it sold over a quarter of a million copies over 38 years.
One of the most notrious hot spots in 18th century Covent Garden was Moll King's Coffee house, which was open from the time taverns shut in the evening until dawn. And since it provided no beds, it technically couldn't be legally classified as a brothel- thus Moll and her girls slipped through a legal loophole and avoided getting shut down by the police. One of the highlights of the Coffee House was a pretty black barmaid, 'Tawny' Betty. She was amongst a number of black working girls in Covent Garden at the time; there are records suggesting that there were even exclusively black brothels. One of the most famous prostitutes at the time was West Indian widow and former slave and "Black Harriot". Her clients were said to include 20 members of the House of Lords and 50 members of the House of Commons.
Fast foward 150 years or so to 1863, Edouard Manet paints his masterpiece, Olympia
Many critics have speculated over the identity of the reclining woman in this famous depiction of feminine beauty, and many have concluded that she was a prostitute. However, the black maid in the background hasn't courted as much critical attention. Questions over who she is and what she represents has been a topic of discussion amongst a handful of academics, most of whom are from Feminist and/or Queer backgrounds. Some have argued that, like her mistress, she too is a prostitute. Others have said that, like the black ribbon around thecentral figures neck, or the flowers being presented to her that the black woman is simply as aesthetic device; i.e. that her 'shade' brings out the 'lightness' of the central figures complexion. I'm yet to make up my mind about her, but what I do find fascinating is the tension between the visibility and invisibility of the maid. She is glaringly visible as she is "exotic", yet she sinks into the dark green drapes in the background and, like her absence in the critical cannon,becomes invisible. Is this because she does not add any aesthetic quality to the painting? Is she simply not visually accepted and recognised as beautiful and therefore, not worth the attention?
Or is she , along with her mistress, representative of the hidden beauty rooted in vice? E. J. Bellocq (John Ernest Joseph Bellocq, 1873-1949) was a photographer who used the prostitutes of Storyville, New Orleans, as his private muses. Many of the photographs he took of these women have since been destroyed, but the ones that survive-in my opinion- are stunning. They offer a haunting kind of beauty, a beauty that makes me question-which kinds of beauty are we more likely to hide? And which kinds of beauty are more publicly except able? Here are some examples of Bellocq's work that I would stash in my "private collection":
There's nothing seedy about these photographs in my mind. These forbidden images summon an age-old profession in which "beauty" is paramount. And its not only the beauty of these women's outer appearance that makes Olympia and Bellocq's photographs so alluring. I think the inner beauty of their expression, uniqueness and strength to survive in what must have been particularly difficult environments is just as, if not more important, than their physical appearance.
What do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment