![]() ![]() “But the way they move, the way they walk, the way they talk - they’re just innately confident. Club Onyx is Charlotte’s only Urban Gentlemen’s Club, where the cities hottest DJ’s play the best in hip hop and R&B until 5am every Friday and Saturday VIP PACKAGES Single Bottle VIP Package 550 1 Premium Discounted Bottle. “I think that there’s outward beauty, for sure,” Raquel said of the dancers. Come sit back and be entertained by the finest women from the surrounding five state area on one of the 5 stages. But for Raquel, the intrigue goes beyond their appearances alone. “Everyone looks so Black and beautiful.” At its core, “ONYX” is a showcase of beauty, from the way light bends around silhouettes and lucite heels, to the contemplative, quiet moments of the women backstage. ![]() “I just love the way (Williams) treats the colors and the lighting,” Raquel said. (IStockPhoto) ATLANTA (AP) After the upstart Club Onyx started taking business from other strip clubs, the operators of rival Platinum 21 dreamed up ways to. The Nas and DMX-led crime drama from 1998 was critically panned at the time, but remains influential for its slick visuals and surrealist overtones. Raquel says she was particularly inspired by “Belly,” the only feature film from Queens-born music video director Hype Williams, who was responsible such iconic videos as Missy Elliott’s “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly),” TLC’s “No Scrubs” and “Big Pimpin'” by Jay-Z. “ONYX” pays homage to the heyday of hip-hop music videos of the ’90s and early 2000s, adopting their aesthetics and alluding to the seductive power of the video vixen. “Once you get beyond that, I really started paying attention to the dancers - not only their athleticism or their sex appeal, but the relationships they have with one another.” “When you walk into the strip club, there’s a bit of a shock value to it… At first, you’re in a little bit of awe, but then it’s also kind of debaucherous,” Raquel said. The photographer plays into the enchantment of the setting, while focusing on a sense of intimacy between the women. Her images in the darkly lit club project the fantasy that Raquel’s imagery is known for, with velvety pink and red lighting, and deep, sensual shadows cast across the dancers. “Onyx is one of the only strip clubs that I’ve actually been to where I feel it’s welcoming,” Raquel said. ![]() She’s had the show on her mind since around 2017, when she visited Houston for her aunt’s birthday and suggested they hit up Onyx to celebrate. Raquel, who is based in New York and has photographed Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Nas X and Travis Scott in her gauzy style, started her career in Houston about a decade ago. “Women in general stepping into their confidence and really expressing their sexuality… has become way more normalized in our society.” “I definitely feel like exotic dancing is not as much of a taboo as it used to be in the past,” she said in a video interview. Raquel sees the changing attitudes around exotic dancing as indicative of a larger cultural shift. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |