Stripped

It is curious, how something can be both public and private; how a strip club can sit right on a highly trafficked road, its parking lot and its customers in plain view of all who drive by. The second you step inside, however, you are in a completely different world, a world of anonymity and aliases, a world where the private is made public. In photographing these adult entertainment centers and the dancers who work in them, I explore the relationship between the shared and the intimate. While all women are objectified in some way at some point in their lives, one could argue that exotic dancers make a career out of it. These images combat this notion of objectification. They strip away stereotypes and judgment to find the beauty and diversity in this art form, to show that these women are not to be pitied or looked down upon. These are women whose confidence and power is to be admired and celebrated.