Two texts that situate themselves in Storyville in the early twentieth century and hinge on the work of historic photographer, E. J. Bellocq, delineate themes of race, gender, and agency in rich historical detail: Michael Ondaatje’s Coming through Slaughter and Natasha Trethewey’s Bellocq’s Ophelia. The former text, an experimental novel based on the career of jazz musician Buddy Bolden, is ultimately pessimistic about the possibilities of this African American man to transcend the limitations imposed on him by the larger society, whereas Trethewey’s book of poetry delineates hopeful potentials in a light-skinned prostitute.