E. J. Bellocq took this photograph in Storyville, the notorious district of New Orleans where prostitution was legalised from 1897 to 1917. The only photographs attributed to Bellocq are images of prostitutes and their surroundings. They are remarkable for their relaxed portrayal of nudity (or here, where the sitter wears a total body stocking, a parody of nudity). Bellocq’s work became widely known when photographer Lee Friedlander bought his damaged glass negatives and made new prints from them. Friedlander’s interpretation of this secret archive is now as much a part of the history of these photographs as the scant details known of Bellocq’s life. Despite their ‘discovery’ and promotion, we still do not know why Bellocq made these curious images, and they have lost little of their mystery or charm.