But we’re still looked down upon when we’re the generators of this image.” Did you get any feedback from the dancers about what that’s like for them? Some of them say, “It’s great that strippers are glorified in the media in shows like ‘ P-Valley’ and with Cardi B and FKA twigs and all these people who are doing pole dancing. I’ve had mixed reactions from dancers about their likeness being borrowed in popular culture. We’re looking at these women with different eyes than a man, but these are sensual moments because they’re so close.
Waterman: I loved it because it wasn’t sexualized, and you and I had that in common. So with these images, you can really focus on the woman, which was the goal for this. You’ve got the music booming, the bass going, money flying, the girls, alcohol, hookah smoke. Traditionally when we think of strip clubs, it’s not a quiet place, it’s lively. I just recently shifted my focus toward photographing people. Raquel: Prior to 2016 I would take still-lifes and architectural and scenic photos, all of which - you focus in on the details. What did you like about coming in tight like that? One thing that I’m going to take a note from is you got in close. Waterman: The first thing I noticed when I was looking at your work is the aesthetic: beautiful, glossy, magazine editorial. “ONYX” joins a tradition of photo books that includes Susan Meiselas’ “Carnival Strippers” (1976), Bronwen Parker-Rhodes and Emily Dinsdale’s “Wanting You to Want Me” (2022) and Elizabeth Waterman’s “ Moneygame: Where Women Rule the Stage” (2021), all of which provide a respectful, female perspective on a $7.6-billion industry that is often stigmatized and marginalized.
The photos were shown in Raquel’s first solo exhibition, at New York’s Fotografiska in 2021, and have now been compiled into the book “ONYX,” published by Damiani. The intention of photographing the upscale Black club (shot to look “like a 1990s Hype Williams video”) was to “grant the chance for these performers to be as elevated as the culture they influence.” When photographer and creative director Adrienne Raquel set out to document strippers, the Houston native set her lens on the city’s famed Club Onyx. If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from, whose fees support independent bookstores.
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