Carnival Strippers.

Photographs by Susan Meiselas. Text by Sylvia Wolf and Deirdre English.

Steidl, Gottingen, 2003. 164 pp., 78 black-and-white illustrations, 11x9½".

From 1972 to 1975, Susan Meiselas spent her summers photographing and interviewing women who performed striptease for small town carnivals in New England, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. As she followed the girl shows from town to town, she portrayed the dancers on stage and off, photographing their public performances as well as their private lives. She also taped interviews with the dancers, their boyfriends, the show managers, and paying customers. Meiselas' frank description of the lives of these women brought a hidden world to public attention. Produced during the early years of the women's movement Carnival Strippers reflects the struggle for identity and self-esteem that characterized a complex era of change. Originally published in 1976, this book is considered a pioneering publication for its frank and honest look at women on the margins of society. This revised edition contains a new selection of Meiselas' black-and-white photographs together with the original excerpts from the interviews. Additionally an Audio-CD with a collage of voices from many participants and a 1977 interview with the photographer is included. Essays by Sylvia Wolf and Deirdre English reflect on the importance of this body of work within both the history of photography and feminism.
During the summers of 1973, 1974, and 1975, Susan Meiselas photographed and interviewed the women who performed in 'girl shows' in small town carnivals across New England. It was based on this body of work that she was admitted as a peer to the prestigious Magnum Photos agency in 1976, the same year in which Carnival Strippers was originally published. The frank portrayal of women on the fringes of society was pioneering and laudatory. In introducing the work, Meiselas states, "The recognition of this world is not the invention of it. I wanted to present an account of the girl show that portrayed what I saw and revealed how the people involved felt about what they were doing." Excerpts of interviews wind their way throughout the gritty, black-and-white images; a cd of voice recordings is included at the back.

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