LUST LADY, THE

When Erika Langley approached the female management of Seattle's Lusty Lady, she was told that to photograph the peep show dancers she would have to become a dancer. So she did. This work documents her five-year project as an insider in a rarely seen world. Through photographs and texts that are both candid and affectionate, humanizing and humorous, we see behind the impenetrable armour of naked dancers. Complete with interviews which allow them to speak for themselves, Langley's work juxtaposes stage personas with real people, showing the love, humour and boredom behind the scenes, and the humanity behind the stigma and shame.