Carnival Strippers

Meiselas followed strippers working in carnivals in New England over the course of three consecutive summers. Carnival Strippers (1972–1975) is an installation comprising her first major photographic essay and audio recordings of the women, their clients and managers. With a small Leica and no flash, she concentrated on the working lives and the power dynamics of the “girl shows”, portraying them with multiple perspectives, through reportage and portraiture. Meiselas describes her approach to this project as being influenced by her ethnographic studies: “I wanted to see the whole world of the carnival strippers from within, as well as looking out. . . . Feminists at that time perceived the girl shows as exploitative places and thought the women were victims. But I was more interested in seeing how they were seen within their world, and hearing what the women said about themselves rather than what other people said about them. I was drawn to know what motivated them.”