Harlot's Parlour: Sex Workers And Legal Brothels Of Europe

A brief and entertaining look at the legal brothels within Europe. While I understand the concern of my sisters in the life regarding the possibility of unethical managers within brothels, these places can be a safe haven for prostitutes.

Hetairae

The hetairae were the professional courtesans and high-ranking prostitutes of ancient Greece, prized for their intellect and charm as well as for their beauty and sexual favours. Of all the women in ancient Greece, they alone were allowed to join men at drinking parties known as symposia.

Hetaerae appear to have been regarded as distinct from pornê, or simple prostitutes, and also distinguished from mistresses or wives.

Highly educated in music, poetry, philosophy, and current events, hetairae were independent and oftentimes influential women whose opinions and beliefs were respected by men. One had to court the favours of the hetairae, whose company was in great demand.

Bordello

Beautiful, edgy, yet lush images by Austrian photographer Vee Speers appear in her book "Bordello: The Art Of Seduction". She has lived near the notorious Rue St. Denis in Paris for many years and used her photographs to create her own interpretation of the Paris red-light district from the 1920s and 1930s within the former bordellos, whose elegant interiors have survived.

“From my window I can see the girls waiting downstairs in the doorways, and it has always fascinated me how these women display their bodies up and down the street like gaudy trinkets in a second-hand shop.“

These photographs had been reproduced with Fresson, a unique 19th century hand-worked technique using a charcoal process, creating a sumptuous quality.

Speers' work recalls the decadence of Paris nightlife of the 1920s and 1930s as exemplified by this hauntingly beautiful photograph of a Parisian prostitute from Brassaï (1933):

Alluring, sensuous, feminine...the art of seduction...