Social Documents

E. J. Bellocq, Storyville Portraits: Untitled, 1912

In the beginning of the twentieth century, photographers began using photography as a method of documenting the filthy conditions that some people lived in as well as some of the hardships they had to go through. The living conditions of American immigrants was a popular subject, and some of these photos were used as "social documents" and used as evidence in various courts around the nation. In the The above photograph is part of a series by E. J. Bellocq. Bellocq wanted to showcase the lives of prostitutes in New Orleans and the terrible conditions they lived in. In the above photo, the prostitute is depicted in a dingy hotel room. She is wearing a mask, which I believes makes the woman a more universal figure.