Vee Speers is an Australian photographer based in Paris. After studying at the Queensland College of Art, Speers worked as a stills photographer for the ABC television. Since moving to France in the early 90's, Speers has worked in fashion, photojournalism and is today an established fine-art photographer. Her work has appeared in many prestigious publications, and has been exhibited in London, Paris, Miami, New York, Atlanta, China, Ireland, Singapore, Japan, Italy, Tunisia, Norway, Sweden, Mexico, Brazil, Australia.

Mrs. Speers, you arrived in Paris after studying, living and working in Australia. Paris was for you a source of inspiration. It was the town where Bordello was born. How did things run in Paris at the time?
Paris was very different in the early 90's. Less foreigners were living here, and it felt very traditional. Compared to Australia at that time, people in Paris mostly dressed in a conformist way - grey, beige and black, as opposed to todays trend towards a more individual expression. Today, it's a very international, cosmopolitain and creative city. Art and beauty is everywhere. Anything seems to be possible. It's the new New York of the 80's!.

When did you meet the women and men portrayed in your photographs? How did you choose them?
I asked a few friends to model for me, but I also dared to asked a couple of different women (not prostitutes) that I bumped into on the street who had the timeless look I was after. I had about a minute to introduce myself and quickly explain the story, and ask them if they would like to play the role of a prostitute. Everybody loved the idea!

Bordello is constructed with a filmic structure. You put the images in a screenplay set up. In a few words, they are perfectly orchestrated. The influence of your past experience in ABC, the Australian TV you worked for, is clear. But there is one more potential influence I see in your work: Stanley Kubrick. When he worked as a reporter for the American magazine Look, each image of the series he created was conceived as a photogram of a screenplay. Who influenced your photographic art and the way you constructed your stories? I tell you this as I see Kubrick's influence also in Parisians and in some photographs of The Birthday Party.
I'm flattered, but I would say I was more influenced in my youth by my three cinematic heros - David Lynch for his carefully composed shots and paced tension in his 'moving stills'. John Waters, for his outrageously camp and sensory films, and Peter Greenway, whose stories are a visual feast and are forged in my mind for ever.

Bordello photographs are rich in detail. They have precise historical references. This was the first step of your creative process. What did you want to add? Which path did you follow to achieve something more profound? How did you reinterpretated the bordellos world?
Yes, I researched the history of the Maisons Closes during the 20's and 30's for a close reference, and at the same time I discovered E.J. Bellocq's candid images of prostitutes from the 1900's in New Orleans, but rather than reproduce something already seen, I wanted the images to have a movement, a kind of soft blur in the way they may have been seen through a keyhole, or by a client passing by. Even though I chose to set Bordello in the 20's I wanted to render them timeless, and in a way draw the viewer away from the idea of prostitution, and towards a story of femininity, empowerment and sensuality.

Art is creativity without boundaries, a lesson you learned while studying at Art School in Australia. There can not be art without rebellion and breaking of classical, traditional schemes. It is what you did with Bordello, isn't it?
Art is everything, from the subtle to the extreme, and possibly all that is in between. But in order to inspire people with art, we need to surprise and provoke an emotion that is long lasting, changing the way the viewer sees things, drawing them into our world.

You also portrayed Oriental women. They are the classical, lascivious symbol, and yet, elegant, fascinating, of prostitution world. Where were these photographs born? Also in Paris?
All the photos were taken in ex-Bordellos in Paris. Using Asian women was a question of aesthetic - they are beautiful. And the room in which I photographed this particular model was part of the original 'Shanghai' brothel in Pigalle which was sumptously decorated with golden hand painted murals and incredible floral stained glass. (Each high class brothel of this period had a decorative theme). So for me it was logical to include an Asian beauty.

How did you reproduce the photographs to obtain an authentic painterly quality of the images?
The prints are hand-crafted 19th century Fresson technique. Each print is individually coated with pigment, creating this lovely rich and painterly surface.

Karl Lagerfeld wrote the forward of Bordello, your book with your photographs. What about the encounter between you and one of the symbols of contemporary fashion? It is not surprising as fashion enriches your Bordello portrays, which make them a œuvre d'art!
Karl Lagerfeld came to my Bordello exhibition in Paris and loved the work, so asked him if he would be interested in writing the forward. I felt very honoured that he accepted!

Vee Speers: Bordello will be at The Little Black Gallery London from 4 March - 12 April 2014.

For more information visit: www.thelittleblackgallery.com

See also Bordello. Photographs by Vee Speers with a foreword by Karl Lagerfeld, earBOOKS (Edel Classics GmbH), Hamburg, 2007. The book containS 4 CDs with a selection of French chansons by Édith Piaf, Charles Trenet, Yves Montand, Lucienne Boyer and many more.

Text by Stefania Elena Carnemolla