John Ernest Joseph Bellocq, was born into a wealthy family in the french quarter of New Orleans. When he first started he was known as an amateur photographer in his community.Bellocq attended the College of the Immaculate Conception and worked at his father's wholesale firm. He became obsessed with photography and He made a living mostly by taking pictures of landmarks and of ships and machinery for local companies, he also, for fun took pictures of the hidden side of "local life", most famous the prostitutes of story ville.
By 1898, he gained recognition as one of the city's most popular and talented amateur photographers. This was the same year the red light district, Storyville, opened for business as home to legalized prostitution from 1898 until 1917, when the federal government and the Navy shut it down as ‘bad influence’ during WWI.. ellocq was a hideous hydrocephalic who lived lone and acquired a reputation for eccentricity and unfriendliness. He frequented brothels, as if he could identify himself only in such community. Although there were no evidence that he used their services, Bellocq moved freely among the prostitutes and take photographs. Bellocqs photos were known for their estranged beauty.
Ellocq died in 1949, and was buried in Saint Lewis Cemetery in New Orleans.
After his death, most of his negatives and prints were destroyed. However, the Storyville negatives were later found trapped in a sofa. The storyville photos were All portraits of women. Some are nude, some dressed, others posed as if acting a mysterious narrative. After many years, they were purchased by a young photographer, Lee Friedlander. In 1970, he published a selection of the prints he had made from the negatives in the book, Storyville Portraits. These photographs were immediately acclaimed for their unique style beauty. A more extensive collection of Friedlander's prints, entitled Bellocq: Photographs from Storyville, was published in 1996.
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