A French photographer reveals an unexpected look at America through its many strip clubs

CNN
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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 the United States: strip clubs.

From Miami to Los Angeles, Prost's latest book, “Gentlemen's Clubs,” charts his path across America, visiting nearly 150 strip clubs, including Pleasures, Temptations and Cookies N' Cream. However, not a single naked woman is seen, as Prost's camera focuses exclusively on the buildings themselves – specifically their often colorful facades.

Over the course of five weeks in 2019, he traveled more than 6,000 miles, capturing everything from the pastel tones of Florida's Pink Kitten Club to prominent places hidden in America's more religious states.

“I divide these venues into two types: those that are very integrated into the public landscape, and those that are more hidden and subtle,” Prost told CNN in a video call and email.

The first type can be found in “very American” settings, such as “around amusement parks, fast food restaurants and shopping malls,” he added. However, the latter establishments sometimes look indistinguishable from any store in a strip mall. Prost said he found many such establishments in the Bible Belt, a socially conservative region in the southern part of the country. He was particularly keen to explore the area because of the stark contrast between the prevalence of strip clubs and what he describes in the book as “conservatism and ultra-puritanism.”

Prost insisted that he was not interested in the interiors or service of strip clubs, which he always went to during the day. Instead, he hopes to learn more about American culture through objective, documentary-style photos of the intersection of sex, gender, and commerce. He documents changing attitudes towards sex through the lens of architecture, adding that the series is primarily a landscape photography project.

“The prism of the subject of strip club facades became a way of researching and trying to understand the country,” he writes in “Gentlemen’s Clubs,” photographs of which will be shown in an exhibition in Tokyo in March. .

“(The Gentlemen’s Club) is an objective panorama of mainstream views, gender, and the sexualization of the female form.”

The origins of Prost's project can be traced back to his 2018 series “After Party,” which focused on the glitzy look of French nightclubs. He said people often commented that the buildings looked like they were plucked directly from American cities, which sparked the idea that he should visit the United States and expand the project.

As he meticulously planned his trip, he was struck not only by the sheer number of strip clubs in America, but also how, unlike in Europe, they often demanded to be seen. Bright pink walls, giant nude silhouettes, and even a candy cane-striped storefront make no secret of the entertainment on offer.

“Las Vegas is a great example, where they're full of strip clubs and their signs flash like fast-food (restaurant) or casino signs,” Prost said.

Miami clubs are often painted in vivid Wes Anderson-esque hues. Other photos show the bright site contrasting with the sparse desert environment.

If the venues were open during the day, he said, Prost would have entered and asked for permission to take photos in order to “not appear suspicious … and to explain my intentions.” The interiors rarely live up to the alluring promises plastered on the signs outside, but the photographer met many characters during his five-week trip, from aloof bouncers to managers excited about the project.

“Most of the time, people are fine — 99 percent of them are okay with frontal photos,” he said, adding that as long as he doesn’t take photos of patrons or dancers, they usually don’t mind his presence.

“Some people will think it's a little weird, and some people will be really excited about it and give me their business cards to send me photos when they're done,” he said.

However, Prost said he was most surprised by how “normalized” strip clubs have become in everyday life. As he reflects in the book, “Americans have a completely different relationship with strip clubs than what you see in Europe. Going to strip clubs seems to be much more normalized… You can go as a couple, or spend the evening with friends Let’s play together.”

He was struck, for example, by the fact that many strip clubs in Las Vegas double as restaurants, with many touting happy hour deals, buffets and special discounts for truckers or construction workers.

“I've noticed that some strip clubs will advertise themselves as strip clubs and steakhouses so you can watch a strip show and eat a big piece of meat at the same time. That's a very American thing to me, too,” 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 front is peppered with jokes like “My sex life is like the Sahara, two palms, no dates,” as well as punny names like “Booby Trap” and “Bottoms Up.” Prost's documentary approach enhances the surreal comic effect of these signs. But it also serves as a neutral lens through which viewers can make their own opinions about the objectification of women.

By honing in on the faceless dancing bodies of women’s silhouettes and the quintessential “girl girl girl” sign, Gentlemen’s Club explores the commodification of women who are entirely absent from Prost’s work (an observation that reflects In the book's title, this phrase appears several times on signs in his photos). The strip clubs he visits treat women as expendable objects, from the many food-themed names to the ads that read “A Thousand Beautiful Girls and Three Ugly Girls.”

For his next project, Prost plans to visit Japan to document the country's love hotels, which in some parts of the United States serve a similar role to strip clubs: keeping open secrets in society. But the photographer believes the American institutions he visited illustrate something unique about the country — something that has less to do with sex and more to do with the American dream.

What his project showed him, he said, was that “as long as you're successful in business,[it doesn't matter]if your activities are sexual.”

“Gentlemen's Club” will be exhibited at Agnes b. From March 17 to April 15, 2023, Galerie Boutique, Tokyo, Japan. BookPublished by Fisheye Editions and available now.