CNN
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Some people travel to the world in search of adventures, while others seek natural miracles, cultural sites or culinary experiences. But French photographer Franny prost During his recent road trip, he was looking for something different completely America: Strip club.
From Miami to Los Angeles, Prost’s latest book “Gentleman“Through approximately 150 strip clubs, the whole of America charts its passage with names such as pleasures, temptations and cookies N ‘creams. Not a single naked woman can be seen, however, the prost camera was specially trained on buildings-and especially their frequent-colored aspects.
He covered a distance of more than 6,000 miles during five weeks in 2019 Resolen photos Capturing everything from the pastel color of Florida club pink pusicat for hidden places in more religious states of the country.
Prost said, “I will divide these places into two types: a public scenario is very integrated, and a slightly hidden and doddy,” Prost spoke to CNN on a video call and email.
First type, he said, “very American” can be found in settings, such as “amusement parks and fast food and around the mall.” However, the latter locations, sometimes the strip malls seem uninterrupted from any store in the mall. Prost said that he found many such establishments with a socially conservative area biblical belt to the south of the country. He was especially eager to detect the area due to a clear contrast between the prevalence of strip clubs and describes in his book as “conservatism and extreme purity”.
Prost insisted that he had little interest in strip clubs’ interiors or services, which he always visited during the day. Instead, he expected to learn more about the American culture by creating pictures of the establishments sitting at the intersection of sex, gender and commerce. Documentation of the changing approach to sex through the lens of architecture, he said that the series was mainly of a landscape photography project.
He said, “The prism of the strip club became a way to study and try to understand the country,” he wrote in the “Gentlemen Club”, which will include an exhibition in Tokyo in March.
“(‘Club of gentlemen’ is a purpose of main opinion and sex, sexualization of panorama and feminine image.”
The origin of Prost’s project was his 2018 series, “After party“Those who focused on the fiery aspects of the French nightclubs. The people often commented that the outsiders of the buildings noticed that as they were directly out of the American cities, instigating the idea that they should visit the US and expand the project.
As he had carefully planned his journey, he was killed not only with strip clubs in America, but unlike Europe – they often sought to look. Hot pink walls, spacious naked silhouettes and even candy-ken-storing storfrots did not make any secret of entertainment inside.
“A good example will be Las Vegas, where strip clubs are everywhere and their signs nap as fast food (restaurant) or casino sign,” Prost said.
Miami’s clubs were often depicted in vivid, Wes Anderson-Esk Hues. Other photos show brightly covered locations unlike their rare desert surroundings.
If the establishments were open during the day, Prost would enter and “to look suspicious … and asks for permission to take photos to explain and explain what my intentions were,” he said. The interiors rarely lived for tentalizing promises during outside signals, but the photographer met a host of characters during his five -week journey, from indifferent bouncers to managers, who were thrilled about the project.
“Most of the time, people were fine – 99% of them would say yes to a mask picture,” he said, “he usually does not consider his appearance bad, until he took pictures of mentor or dancers.”
“Some people think it was a bit strange, some would really get excited about it and would give me their business cards when I was sent to send this picture,” he said.
Prost said his biggest surprise, however, “generalized” strip club appeared in everyday life. As he reflects in his book, “The relationship that Americans feel with strip clubs feel that everything you see in Europe is quite different. It seems very normalized to go to the strip club … you go to have fun among friends at night, or at night.”
For example, he was killed by the fact that so many Las Vegas strip clubs doubled as restaurants – with several pride hours of deals, buffets and special discounts for truck drivers or construction workers.
“I paid attention to some strip clubs, which will advertise a strip club and steickhouse, so you can eat a large piece of meat (while) strippers. This is also something that I feel very American,” he said: “I heard from some people that I met in Portland, even strip clubs (which proposals) are vegetarian food.”
“My sex life is associated with lips such as booby trap and bottom-up names like” my sex life support, 2 palms, no dates “and virtuous-based names. Prost’s documentary approach increases the real comedy of signs. But it also doubles as a neutral lens, through which viewers can make up their mind about the objective of women.
By honoring the faceless dancing bodies and quintments of women silhouettes, “Girls Girls Girls”, the “Gentleman Club” examines the amendment of women who are completely absent in prostal works (an observation in the title of the book, which is a philosophy which is a philosophy that is a philosophy that is a philosophy that is a philosophy that many times). In strip clubs he visited the women of the market, from many food-theme names to reading an advertisement, “for beautiful girls of 1,000 and three ugly people.”
For its next project, Prost plans to travel to Japan to document the love hotels of the nation, which plays the same role as strip clubs in some parts of America: an open secret in a conservative society. But the photographer believes that American establishments said something unique about the country – something that is less about sexuality and more about American dreams.
What his project has shown him, he said, “As long as you succeed in business, (it doesn’t matter) if your activity deal with sex.”
“Gentleman Club” will be displayed in Egnes B. Gallery boutique in Tokyo, Japan, between March 17 and April 15, 2023. BookPublished by Fishi versions, now available.
