Joe McConnell
CNN
—
Some people travel the world in search of adventure, while others seek natural wonders, cultural landmarks, or culinary experiences. But French photographer François Prost was looking for something entirely different on his recent road trip across America: strip clubs.
From Miami to Los Angeles, Prost’s latest book “Gentlemen’s Club” traces his journey across the United States to nearly 150 strip clubs with names like Pleasures, Temptations, and Cookies N’ Cream. Not a single naked woman is seen, however, as Prost’s camera was trained exclusively on the buildings themselves, and especially their often colorful facades.
Over the course of five weeks in 2019, he logged more than 6,000 miles, and the resulting photos captured everything from the pastel hues of Florida’s Club Pink Pussycat to hidden-in-plain-sight locales in the country’s most religious states.
“I would divide these places into two types: one that is very integrated into the public landscape and one that is a little more hidden and shady,” Prost said, speaking to CNN in a video call and via email.
The first type, he added, could be found in “very American” settings, such as “around amusement parks, fast food joints, and shopping malls.” The latter establishments, however, would sometimes appear indistinguishable from any store in a strip mall. Prost said he found many of these establishments along the Bible Belt, a socially conservative region in the South. He was especially keen to explore the area because of the apparent contrast between the prevalence of strip clubs and what he describes in his book as “extreme conservatism and puritanism.”
Prost insisted that he was not much interested in the interiors or amenities of strip clubs, and that he always visited during the day. Instead, he hoped to learn more about American culture by creating objective, documentary-style photographs of establishments that sit at the intersection of sex, gender, and commerce. Documenting changing attitudes toward sex through the lens of architecture, he added that the series was primarily a landscape photography project.
“The prism of this theme of strip club facades has become a way of studying and trying to understand the country,” he wrote in “Gentlemen’s Club,” whose photographs will be on display in an exhibition in Tokyo in March.
“(‘Gentlemen’s Club’ is) an objective overview of dominant views, gender and the sexualization of the female image.”
The genesis of Prost’s project dates back to his 2018 series, “After Party,” which focused on the garish facades of French nightclubs. He said people would often comment that the exteriors of the buildings looked like they were ripped straight from American cities, which sparked the idea to visit the United States and extend the project.
As he meticulously planned his trip, he was struck not only by the sheer volume of strip clubs in America, but also by the fact that, unlike Europe, they often demanded to be seen. Hot pink walls, giant nude silhouettes, and even candy cane-striped storefronts made no secret of the kind of entertainment provided inside.
“A good example would be Las Vegas, where strip clubs are everywhere and their signs flash as brightly as a fast food (restaurant) or casino,” Prost said.
Miami clubs were often painted in bright, Wes Anderson-esque colors. Other photos show clubs covered in bright colors that contrast with their sparse desert surroundings.
If the facilities were open during the day, Prost would go in and ask permission to take photos so as to “not look suspicious… and explain what my intentions were,” he said. The interiors rarely lived up to the enticing promises printed on the signs outside, but the photographer encountered a range of characters during his five-week trip, from indifferent bouncers to enthusiastic managers.
“Most of the time, people were OK: 99 percent of them would say yes to a front photo,” he said, adding that they typically wouldn’t mind his presence, as long as he wasn’t taking photos of customers or dancers.
“Some people would think it was a little weird, some people would be really excited about it and give me their business card to send me the photo once it was finished,” she said.
Prost said his biggest surprise, however, was how “normalized” strip clubs seemed in everyday life. As he reflects in his book, “The relationship Americans seem to have with strip clubs is very different from what you see in Europe. Going to a strip club seems much more normalized… People go as a couple, or with friends in the evening to have fun.”
For example, he was struck by the fact that many Las Vegas strip clubs doubled as restaurants, many of which boasted happy hours, buffets, and special discounts for truck drivers or construction workers.
“I’ve noticed some strip clubs that advertise that they’re a strip club and a steakhouse, so you can eat a nice piece of meat (while) watching the strippers. That also seems very American to me,” he said, adding, “I’ve heard from some people I’ve met in Portland that there are even strip clubs (that offer) vegan food.”
The facades are peppered with jokes like “My sex life is like the Sahara, 2 palm trees, no dates” and pun-based names like Booby Trap and Bottoms Up. Prost’s documentary approach enhances the surreal comedy of the signs. But it also serves as a neutral lens through which viewers can gain insight into the objectification of women.
Focusing on the faceless dancing bodies of female silhouettes and quintessential “girls girls girls” signs, “Gentleman’s Club” explores the commodification of women who are, in fact, completely absent from Prost’s work (an observation reflected in the book’s title, a phrase that crops up numerous times on signs throughout his photographs). The strip clubs he visited marketed women as things to be consumed, from the many culinary-themed names to an advertisement that read “1,000 pretty girls and three ugly ones.”
For his next project, Prost plans to visit Japan to document the nation’s love hotels, which serve a similar role to strip clubs in parts of the United States: open secrets in a conservative society. But the photographer believes the American establishments he visited say something unique about the country, something less about sexuality and more about the American dream.
What his project showed him, he says, is this: “As long as you’re successful in business, (it doesn’t matter) if your business has anything to do with sex.”
“Gentlemen’s Club” will be exhibited at Agnes b. Galerie Boutique in Tokyo, Japan, between March 17 and April 15, 2023. bookpublished by Fisheye Editions, is available now.
