Before the photographs
How Burlesque began
Burlesque began by accident. At the time, I was working on a different project: a love letter to pussies. It was an attempt to confront the shame and shyness many of us carry around our most intimate parts. The project was conceived as a duet between photographs and love letters written by those who wanted to participate.Then I went with my wife to see a friend’s burlesque graduation show at Coney Island. There, I watched Juno Stardust, naked from the waist down, dipping tortillas into a clear bowl without any underwear. I thought she might be interested in participating in my project. She was—but that encounter led me somewhere entirely unexpected.
I became fascinated by burlesque itself: its humor, theatricality, vulnerability, and the control performers claimed over their bodies and how they were seen. What began as a search for one participant became a complete pivot toward this art form and its performers. Over time, the people I photographed became far more than subjects. They became family.