01-FEB-2014
Twilight, Jackson Square, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
I used a 24mm wideangle focal length to layer this twilight image, anchoring it to the antique street lamp in the foreground, and then echoing its upward thrust with the spires of St. Louis Cathedral in the background. However the key to this image lies in the single brilliantly illuminated cloud that seems to float out of the lamp and hang motionless over the cathedral within a patch of blue sky. Since the cathedral is a sacred building, the spiritual symbolism of that cloud dominates the image.
02-FEB-2014
Economics, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
I contrast a bicycle, chained to a lamppost, to a shop window advertising antique jewelry. The bike represents frugality, while the advertisement symbolizes ostentation. The contrast is intensified through all three primary colors – red, yellow, and blue. The wet street reflects this lavish display of color, embracing the bike within softly rendered hues.
02-FEB-2014
Fogbound French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
Flag-bedecked Royal Street becomes a dreamy stage as a heavy morning fog settles over the city. Autos stand mutely on the sidelines as foot-power, pedal-power, and softly focused hitching posts take center stage here.
02-FEB-2014
Mardi Gras display, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
Richly colored Mardi Gras displays fill shop windows on Royal Street long before the Carnival itself begins. I moved in to stress the interplay of color, texture, and symbols that convey the spirit of the city's most important festival.
02-FEB-2014
Persistence, Jackson Square, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
Usually the wrought iron fence surrounding historic Jackson Square is covered with paintings for sale. But not on this day. As heavy fog rolled over the city, accompanied by a cold drizzle, the crowds vanished and sidewalk artists were nowhere to be seen – except for this persistent man. I built the image around the reds – the paint can in the foreground, the frame and umbrella in the middle ground, and a pedestrian in a red coat in the dimly seen background.
02-FEB-2014
Oyster House, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
These patrons were seated within a doorway open to the street. I photographed them from a distance, using a 230mm telephoto focal length. Behind them, diners can be seen reflected in a large mirror, adding a theatrical ambiance to the scene. The gestures of the man at left dominate the image – he holds a phone in one hand, making us wonder if he is talking to the fellow opposite him or if he is speaking simultaneously with someone else.
02-FEB-2014
Bending to the task, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
This photograph of a man making a photograph in the middle of the city’s famous Jackson Square is greatly enhanced by the heavy fog all around him. He seems lost in an enchanted tropical forest, enthralled no doubt by the abstraction wrought by nature itself. However, what made this image so exciting for me were the rhythms created by the interplay between the photographer and nature. The bending trunks of the palm trees seem to be mimicking the photographer’s bending legs as he struggles to compose his own picture in the fog. I add depth to the image by placing part of a bent tree trunk, swathed in peeling bark, across the entire upper right hand portion of my frame.
02-FEB-2014
Under siege, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
I found a moment filled with multiple incongruities within this scene of tourists crossing an intersection in the heart of the French Quarter. On the left side of this image, a mother is trying to extract a child from the shoulders of her husband. On the right side of the frame, yet another mother reaches for the hand of a tearful little boy who appears to be lunging for his sister instead. The image is dominated, however, by the calm presence of that sister. She turns towards her weeping little brother, while simultaneously tolerating a sneak attack from behind, as yet another sibling grabs at her waist.
03-FEB-2014
Mint Julep, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
This juxtaposition of a row of trash containers and a faded Mint Julep advertisement offers an incongruous contrast between reality and fantasy. The four garbage cans are starkly realistic – the can first in line even opens its jaws to seemingly consume even more trash. The comparison between unpleasant garbage and a taste treat is strikingly incongruous. Meanwhile, the faded sign once promised a “delicious” and “refreshing” experience. Yet the sign’s now faded colors also tell us that this “new drink” is not new any more, and that perhaps its time may well have come and gone.
02-FEB-2014
Pondering the past, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
I was photographing a set of historic facades lining a busy French Quarter neighborhood as this group of tourists entered my frame. They stopped and waited for me to make my picture. I waved them through, and caught one of them as she surged ahead of her friends. I place her squarely within a time-worn space -- the wall at her shoulder has seen empires come and go over the last 400 years. She folds her arms as she walks towards my lens and seems to be considering the age of the place as she passes through it. The jocular, softly focused people behind her do not seem to be on the same trip at this moment.
03-FEB-2014
Wet City, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
Drainage in New Orleans has been a major concern since the founding of the city. It is completely surrounded by water – Lake Pontchartrain lies to the north, Lake Borgne and wetlands to the east and west, and the Mississippi River to the south. Much of this place lies at or below sea level, and rainfall must either evaporate or be pumped out. When strong winds blow and hard rains fall, the city always faces the threat of floods, most notably during its most catastrophic drainage event – Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The city still bears traces of the damage. This image does not show water damage itself, but it does imply an awareness of the constant threat posed by drainage issues. The rubber boots, incongruously tossed into the bed of a local bar’s pick up truck, offers a symbol of such readiness. The French Quarter itself is reflected in the window, while the name of the bar’s famous host restaurant – Antoine’s – is emblematic of the city itself.
03-FEB-2014
Drainage everywhere, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
I am rarely conscious of drainpipes, but in New Orleans, things are different. They often embody a bit of history, and represent one of the city's greatest challenges. The base of this drainpipe is decorated in the style of a classical pillar, a nod to the European character of the city itself. I made this image as an exercise in color as well – the orange drainpipe stands in striking contrast to the reddish wall to the right and the blue-gray paint of the building and door to the left.
03-FEB-2014
Birthplace of Jazz, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
This is one of several pieces of contemporary sculptures commemorating the musicians who made this place “the birthplace of jazz.” It stands near the city’s French Market, and features two-dimensional statues of musicians encircling a fountain. I limit my image to three of them, dominated by a trombone player painted in blue and yellow primary colors. Two other celebrants add context.
03-FEB-2014
Smoke Break, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
I found a pair of restaurant employees taking a quick smoke break in the doorway of their establishment. I place them well back in the frame, and feature the colorful windows of the surrounding buildings. They give the image its context and character, as well as a sense of place.
02-FEB-2014
Maintenance, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
The front doors of restaurants get a lot of use, and acquire many fingerprints over the course of a day. They are cleaned over and over again, and in this image I abstract the person responsible to maintain the appearance of this particular door. By placing his face behind the door frame, and featuring only the two hands at work – one holding a bottle of window cleaner and the other a paper towel – I make this image into a universal symbol of man at work. I include the restaurant’s logo as useful context.
03-FEB-2014
Open for business, French Market, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
The French Market spans six blocks of the French Quarter, running just inland from the Mississippi River from Jackson Square down to the Old New Orleans Mint. It has been a market since 1791, one of the first markets in what would become the United States. Its oldest structures date from 1813, with major renovations coming in the 1930s and 1970s. Food stands, restaurants, cafes, a flea market, along with souvenir and craft shops, now fill its spaces. In this image, a pair of salesman awaits customers – even though there is no business in sight at the moment. I’ve caught an instant of hope mixed with tension here – they are probably wondering if I am a potential customer or just another photographer complicating their lives.
03-FEB-2014
Winter sun, Jackson Square, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
A winter sun breaks through the clouds hanging over the city's most historic block – the 18th century St. Louis Cathedral, along with its historic Presbytere, which once housed priests, later became city hall, and is now a museum. I exposed for the sun, allowing it to become a perfect sphere while at the same time abstracting the structures around it.
03-FEB-2014
Setting up in the Big Easy, French Market, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
I found this pair of musicians setting up for a jazz performance at one of the many cafes that draw visitors to the French Market. The gauzy backdrop softly abstracts the background while the backlighting turns the musicians into abstract silhouettes. The sound of New Orleans jazz is pervasive, by day and by night. There are always musicians playing in the bars, cafes, and restaurants, as well as on the streets and in the parks of “The Big Easy.” (The origin of that nickname most likely dates to James Conaway’s novel of the same name in 1970 as well as the 1987 popular movie based on that novel, starring Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin, a film that carried the nickname into the public consciousness. “The Big Easy” nickname is often connected to the easy-going, laid-back attitudes of jazz musicians such as these.)
02-FEB-2014
Haunted places, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
Heavy fog had settled over Jackson Square as I made this image. While the fog gave the image an timeless atmospheric quality, the bright blue and red umbrella at the right edge of the frame originally pulled the eye away from the center of interest, which is the pair of pedestrians at center. I converted the image to black and white to draw the eye back to the center of the image, relegating the umbrella to the background. The figure in the long coat or dress seems as if it has come from another time, adding a haunted quality to the scene. To those who know New Orleans history, the ghostly scene will also be reinforced by the presence of the fog-shrouded Pontalba Apartments in the background. Built in 1850, these apartments flank both sides of Jackson Square, and are said to be the oldest continuously occupied rented rooms in the United States. (Some of them are considered haunted – Clarence John Laughlin, whose book “Ghosts along the Mississippi” set the standard for haunting imagery, lived here in a Pontalba apartment for many years.)
03-FEB-2014
On parade, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
Brass jazz bands have been leading funerals, parades, and special events through the streets of New Orleans since the 19th century. This one heads a parade of government workers promoting the establishment of a community program. The band winds its way through the French Quarter towards Jackson Square, its pulsating jazz set to a marching beat. I could hear it coming when it was many blocks away, and I made this image just as it filled the street in front of me.
02-FEB-2014
In the mists of time, Jackson Square, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2014
The morning fog was so heavy that at first I could not see either the famous equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson or the St. Louis Cathedral that combine to give this square its identity. I could barely see anything ten twenty feet in front of me. The Square is bounded on one side by the Mississippi River, and given the river’s shifting winds, I guessed that the fog might eventually thin to reveal traces of either the statue or the church, or perhaps even both at the same time. And that is what is happening at this moment. Just as three people (all of them dressed in the primary colors of red and blue) walked past the square’s familiar bending palms towards the statue, the fog thinned a bit to reveal the statue and barely imply the church rising behind it in the mist. I spent about a half hour at the scene, and during that time worked along side of a local professional photographer who told me that this kind of heavy fog occurs here only sporadically. The last such fog was 12 months earlier. I made over 100 images as the fog changed its intensity, and this was the photograph that best fulfilled my intentions. It offers an appropriate ending to this photographic essay on my long weekend in the Big Easy.