Photographers - Part 20

 William I. Goldman

William I. Goldman (1856-1922) was a commercial photographer in Reading, Pennsylvania.  He photographed the citizens of Reading and was an upstanding citizen, becoming the treasurer of the State Photographers Association.

Unknown to anyone, he also assembled a collection of photographs of the prostitutes of Sallie Shearer's brothel, which was a ten-minute walk from his studio.  The photo above is thought to be a self-portrait of Goldman in the brothel.

Sallie Shearer's brothel was a high-class establishment.  A police officer described it as "magnificently furnished. The finest velvet carpets cover the floors, beautiful mirrors adorn the walls and the rooms are beautifully decorated."

The collection dates to c. 1892.  The vast majority of the photos show the prostitutes, some nude and some semi-nude, but not in pornographic poses.  Surprisingly, Goldman also got a couple of brothel customers to pose naked for him.  Above is a customer posing holding a gun.

Here's a rear view of the same customer.

Here's another customer who apparently was OK with being photographed as long as he had a fig leaf.

The fig leaf guy.

The same guy also obligingly posed for a rear view from one side ...

And then the other side.

Goldman never sold or shared his brothel photos during his lifetime.  Years later, they came into the possession of photography historian Robert Flynn Johnson, who published them in a book Working Girls: An American Brothel, circa 1892. The Secret Photographs of William Goldman.