Thanks to Miss Ellie Mae for pointing me in the direction of these beautiful photos of burlesque stars (and that includes boylesque too). They are first shown without, then with, their make-up and costumes. It’s wonderfully and almost uncomfortably intimate, just not in the way one would expect. Here’s a snippet from Flavorwire’s piece about the series:

“…It’s about drama and glamor and imagination. That’s just what Brooklyn-based photographer Van Sarki suggests in his series, Burlesque Compére, which places nude and costumed photos of burlesque stars (many of whom fans of the form are sure to recognize) side by side, juxtaposing the vulnerability of nakedness with the flamboyance of costumes…”

Click here for the full set of pictures at Van Sarki’s website, here for the Flavorwire article and here for the Kickstarter project.