South Louisiana Project - Ideas?

[Ed Richards]

Since Katrina, I have been working on images of south LA, the region below I10 and south of Baton Rouge, that is at very high risk of being inundated by ocean rise over the next 100 years, if not destroyed by a major hurricane well before then. This includes New Orleans, as well as a lot of Cajun country. I have begun to put images on the WWW beyond my Katrina stuff:

http://www.epr-art.com

What I am curious about - and this is partially triggered by Carl's Drive-in project - is what would people want to see when this area is gone? While most of us will gone by then, if you know this area, what would you want to have images of in 2100, when it is mostly covered in water? For myself, there were large areas I had not seen before Katrina, and all that was left was ruins. I wish I had images before the storm, esp. of the areas below NO. This is not a new problem - the Acadia that it was named by the French settlers was been reduced to a shadow of it glory more than 100 years ago when the last of the old grown cypress was cut. We are not talking about the last shots of a pristine wilderness, but the last shots of an interesting cultural area in an already profoundly changed environment.

[Hal Hardy]

Overhead images of the above ground cemetaries. The larger ones would probably have to photographed from a nearby roof top.

[Robert Hughes]

Roller-skating drive-in waitresses! Might be a challenge with 8x10...

[Ed Richards]

> Roller-skating drive-in waitresses!

Have not come across any of those. But I do have a Technika if the opportunity presents itself.:-)

> Overhead images of the above ground cemetaries.

Interesting thought! Most do not have a tall building nearby, but I have a 9 foot Gitzo Giant tripod that has not gotten much use. I will have to strap a ladder to the roof rack. There are a couple that you can get an overlook view of, I will check that out.

[Hal Hardy]

Most do not have a tall building nearby...
The one I have in mind was in the movie Easy Rider. It looked and sounded like it was in or near an industrial area. Maybe you can get a crane operater to give you a boost up. :p

When I lived in Baton Rouge, I thought it was kind of creepy to bury people in cement boxes above ground even though they have to. At least I never saw one with the lid ajar. :eek:

[Ed Richards]

> At least I never saw one with the lid ajar.

Should have been here after Katrina - coffins to rebury the dead who washed out of the tombs:

http://www.epr-art.com/galleries/b3-hk-la/photos/935p.jpg

[mandoman7]

In many instances good art comes out of a particular craftsman's take on a moving subject. It may be the twist he gives it, or maybe his unusually penetrating vision. The thing that elevates the project (in my opinion, of course) is often the character that this photographer invests in the work. As coarse as it may be, many photographers do go to sites of tragedy looking for evocative imagery. Its the ones who are really paying attention and not just taking advantage of an opportunity that get the worthwhile imagery.
As preachy as it sounds, the good photos are coming from inside the shooter as much if not more than the evocative subject matter. Forgive me if I sound too much like another know-it-all :D

[Daniel_Buck]

Being born and raised in Louisiana myself, I look forward to seeing the results of your project!! :-)

The marshy areas, flooded forest "lakes" and such, that's what I miss about Louisiana (living in California now). But I guess if the areas get flooded by more water, we won't really loose those areas, we'll gain more. haha! :D

The back-road highways can be beautiful too, rolling through the forests. That's one thing that I really look forward to when i go back home every year for Christmas, riding down the country roads on the back of my father's motorcycle :)

Logging is big down there in some parts, maybe try and get some of "clear cut" areas that have been re-seeded with small tree saplings? That's probably not unique to Louisiana though, but I always remember the big square (many acre) plops of forest being leveled, and then replanted. It's interesting, each year at christmas time how the saplings are so much bigger each year :) If you find one with some gentle rolling hills, that could make for a nice image :) I've got some photos of my father's truck infront of the big yards that store the trees after their cut, kind of interesting.

[Hal Hardy]

Should have been here after Katrina - coffins to rebury the dead who washed out of the tombs
Yuck!

I did a project similar to yours. As urban sprawl crept closer to my area, I realized that some iconic businesses and other land marks were going to be swallowed up so I photographed them when my schedule allowed and the light was right. One of them was a permanently docked river boat converted to a resturaunt. As I was setting up on a nearby dock, I noticed two people watching me through an upstairs window. A couple of weeks later I drove by it and saw that they had made some repairs to the paddle wheel and painted the exterior of the boat. I guess I shamed/inspired them to spruce the place up.

[Jim Michael]

The anthropologist in me says photograph the people living in the environment. It's their way of life that is being affected/destroyed. Any folks you know make their living in the bayous hunting, fishing, making/cooking boudin etc?

[Ed Richards]

> The anthropologist in me says photograph the people living in the environment. It's their way of life that is being affected/destroyed.

That attracts the usual photographers, so there is a bit of work on the cultural life. But I do some of that as well:

http://www.epr-art.com/galleries/c1/

http://www.epr-art.com/galleries/c2/

Does not work too well with LF. I am not much into "getting the natives to pose on the porch" photography - maybe because I do not see them as exotics to titillate coastal urban dwellers.:-)

Dan - rolling hills? You must be from north of I10.:-) That is pretty country, but south of I10, the only changes in elevation are levees and bridge. That is what makes us so vulnerable - you can be 30 miles inland and still only be 6 inches above sea level. It does not take 7 feet of sea level rise to eat up a lot of LA.

[tgtaylor]

I'd photograph the cities, landscape, road houses, industrial sites...etc. Southern Louisiana south of Baton Rouge is an expansive area with literally unlimited potential. You could spend a lifetime on Hwy 90 to Houma alone. Consider doing some night photography in the towns along 90.

The folks in the south are very friendly, open, and talkative (but don't talk city fast if you know what I mean) so take a DSLR or 645 film camera inside some the places and capture the locals.

Areas like Plaquemine Parish are always totally destroyed when a hurricane strikes.

[Rick Tardiff]

Keep photographing the area the way you are doing it Ed, I just spent some time on your site, fanastic documentary!.....Rick

[z_photo]

if you photograph in the 24-7 bars be careful. i grew up in thibodaux and when we were in those places around 3a.m. the rule of thumb was drink and talk to the people with you and try not to make too much eye contact with the oilfield workers just back from 14 or 21 days offshore. they LOVE a fight. and sometimes the shotgun would come out from behind the bar!

ah, the smell of the burning cane fields in october :)

[JR Steel]

Hello Ed, I worked for the Red Cross right after Katrina (Oct.-Feb.) and traveled quite a bit in the south areas but didn't have much time for photography. I found interesting the architecture in some of the small towns and rural dwellings along the US 90 corridor. How some people live and work along the canals seemed very unique. I have enjoyed perusing your work and think you are on the right track.

I too am working a project here in California. I work for a boys camp (juvenile delinquents) in the southern Sierra Mountains which has been in continuous operation since 1939. I believe historical preservation is an important realm of photography. When I look at historical photos, even the smallest seemingly insignificant details become interesting as time passes.

[Ed Richards]

Z - this is last year. This year, with all the rain, they did not start burning until Dec, and I do not think there was enough dry weather to burn them all. As for 24-7 bars, I learned to avoid those a long time ago during my time in Texas.:-)

http://www.epr-art.com/galleries/b4b-sugar/photos/1749.jpg

[Dakotah Jackson]

Photograph the every day scenes you see. Neighborhoods, playgrounds, schools and street scenes.

Your big worry is a major earthquake along the New Madrid fault(Missouri) or similar as hit in the early 1800's. It rang church bells as far away as New York City. When a quake like that hits again the levees and dams will give way, there will no longer be a St. Louis or Kansas City or most towns and cities along the Mississippi river and tributaries all through the area. New Orleans will wash into the Gulf of Mexico and the land mass in the area will be gone just that quickly. Katrina will look like a puff of wind in comparison.

Photograph everyday things and enjoy it.

[Ed Richards]

A quake would have to come during a flood. Most of the time the river is no where near the levees. Even then the odds are that NO would be left dry as the river cut a new channel to the Gulf from Port Allen to Morgan City. But I still keep a saw in the attic, just in case. :-)

[Kirk Gittings]

Z - this is last year. This year, with all the rain, they did not start burning until Dec, and I do not think there was enough dry weather to burn them all. As for 24-7 bars, I learned to avoid those a long time ago during my time in Texas.:-)

http://www.epr-art.com/galleries/b4b-sugar/photos/1749.jpg

Really nice Ed.

[tgtaylor]

if you photograph in the 24-7 bars be careful. i grew up in thibodaux and when we were in those places around 3a.m. the rule of thumb was drink and talk to the people with you and try not to make too much eye contact with the oilfield workers just back from 14 or 21 days offshore. they LOVE a fight. and sometimes the shotgun would come out from behind the bar!

Well I, and people like me don't frequent those type of bars which, incidentally, can be found in every city - usually around skid row and gang turfs. One place, "El Rancho Grande" in peaceful (by big city standards) San Jose had 17 or 20 people murdered in the parking lot within a two year period before a stop was put to it.

Most of the workers on the oil rigs are locals. I know because I spent a summer working as a "logger" on the offshore rigs usually departing Morgan City by helicopter or boat depending on conditions in the gulf. A lot of those guys had wives and kids they went home to after a shift and working as a logger I visited one rig after another and can't recall one instance where a worker looked like a raccoon. Moreover, and from your tone, it is likely that you have never been in a typical roadhouse or dancehall where the emphasis is on music and dancing and [B]NOT] fighting. I remember one place, probably around the Thibodeaux area, where a fire broke-out in a residence next door. The dancing kept on until the fire department came in and said to evacuate as "The paint is starting to blister."

I suspect that both you and Ed are from the Texas Panhandle area which enjoys the reputation that you are trying to subscribe to Southern Louisiana. But there again I have traveled extensively in that area without witnessing or being a participant in one single fight. Must be my taste in waterholes.

WHEREFORE I move that both of you birds stay out of Southern (or Northern) Louisiana. We don't need nor want to be misrepresented by amateur photographers trying to pin an unjust label on us.

Thomas
A Native of Louisiana

[z_photo]

wow, that was an over the top response!


Well I, and people like me don't frequent those type of bars

i frequented all manner of bars when i lived there. some of those rougher places were also the only ones open at those hours. they were also a lot more lax on checking whether patrons were of legal age. once we started college it became a moot point. we selected better watering holes "people like you" might even appreciate. but ii shall refrain from asking what "type of people" are like you.

which, incidentally, can be found in every city - usually around skid row and gang turfs.

have you been to thibodaux? if so please let me know where skid row and gang turf are because in all my years i never saw anything remotely resembling such places in thibodaux. humor alert: (well, except maybe rene's. CJ and Hick were pretty dangerous looking characters.) i'd sure hate to inadvertently stumble into the wrong places now!

One place, "El Rancho Grande" in peaceful (by big city standards) San Jose had 17 or 20 people murdered in the parking lot within a two year period before a stop was put to it.

Most of the workers on the oil rigs are locals.

true then and i would assume now as well. judging by the accents, the characters i mentioned seemed to hail from places far removed from the area. i shall spare the casual reader my guesses as to their origins.

I know because I spent a summer working as a "logger" on the offshore rigs usually departing Morgan City by helicopter or boat depending on conditions in the gulf. A lot of those guys had wives and kids they went home to after a shift and working as a logger I visited one rig after another and can't recall one instance where a worker looked like a raccoon.

not sure why you feel it necessary to generalize to the entire population of oilfield workers. i suspect "people like you" also realize there are a few bad people everywhere. for some of these characters this bar may have been the first stop after arriving back onshore. a few drinks and it was party time. "looked like a raccoon"? in all my years this is a phenomenon i have never observed (nor heard of).

Moreover, and from your tone, it is likely that you have never been in a typical roadhouse or dancehall where the emphasis is on music and dancing and [B]NOT] fighting.

tone? you are yet to see tone! :) again a generalization of what typifies the many and varied bars of south LA. i played gigs in some pretty rough joints, so wrong again. the one that seemed the roughest was in houma and was called pirate's alley. and ironically i was under age when i played there.

i wonder if just possibly your mood resulted in a harsh interpretation of what i wrote?

I remember one place, probably around the Thibodeaux area, where a fire broke-out in a residence next door. The dancing kept on until the fire department came in and said to evacuate as "The paint is starting to blister."

thibodaux- no e. sorry, but we're picky about the spelling. henry schuyler woudn't have it any other way. that place you mention may well be the place we most frequented in those years. hot music venue. if so it was probably the rebuilt version as the one we knew burned down. or it may have been a place a half mile away where my brother bartended. these were nothing like the place i referenced. if i recall the shotgun joint was on canal street south of the intersection with jackson (you know, where the railroad track crosses the road) on the route into town form houma.

I suspect that both you and Ed are from the Texas Panhandle area which enjoys the reputation

was that reference intended as an insult? if so i wonder how many texans find it offensive. i don't know about Ed, but incorrect as i was born on the banks of bayou lafourche in thibodaux. i shall afford you the benefit of the doubt as most locals would take an accusation of being from tx as an insult (clue: insert sense of humor here!).

that you are trying to subscribe to Southern Louisiana.

neither am i subscribing nor ascribing anything to south LA. the area enjoys its many reputations appropriately.

But there again I have traveled extensively in that area without witnessing or being a participant in one single fight. Must be my taste in waterholes.

and perhaps a little good luck. or maybe an unsavory demeanor meant there was little interaction with people at all! (clue: another sense of humor opportunity as i am just kidding!)

WHEREFORE I move that both of you birds stay out of Southern (or Northern) Louisiana.

despite your apparent residence in the sf bay area, your motion does indeed suggest a familiarity with politics as spectator sport in LA (whether edwin the great or the chocolate city mayor). that is something any native of the state surely appreciates. by the way, my all time favorite politico was the one and only a. o. rappellet of southern lafourche parish. i can still remember those dark glasses and white suits at his stump speeches! :)

We don't need nor want to be misrepresented by amateur photographers trying to pin an unjust label on us.

you are perfectly safe on this one- at least from anything i have read or stated. however, your diatribe did a lot more to pin a label on you than i ever could. i think you owe Ed an apology! no need apologizing to me as i shall simply consider the source (unless you're from north LA (another humor alert! :)).
i suggest you follow richard pryor's advice to bill cosby. here's the smile part. :D

i probably should have proofread this but what the hell...

cheers, Thomas.

Thomas
A Native of Louisiana

apologies, gentle readers. and specifically to you, Ed.

[tgtaylor]

... Taylor: "Most of the workers on the oil rigs are locals."

Z: "...true then and i would assume now as well. judging by the accents, the characters i mentioned seemed to hail from places far removed from the area. i shall spare the casual reader my guesses as to their origins..."
wow, that was an over the top response!

apologies, gentle readers. and specifically to you, Ed.

You don't owe an apology to Ed or anyone else on this site, save perhaps myself and any other native of Louisiana that may visit it. You do, however, owe an apology to the people of Louisiana - in particular those residing now or in the past in Southern Louisiana - for characterizing them in the same light as "the characters(which)... judging from their accents...seemed to hail from places far removed from the area."

[Ed Richards]

I was born in Baton Rouge. I just happened to grow up at the other end of the oil patch - Pasadena, Tx. I was raised in the petrochemical industry, and even did industral labor gang work one summer. Since I was recruited back to Baton Rouge by LSU, I have been a regular at the local events, my favorite being Zydeco breakfast in Breaux Bridge. When I am out in the field shooting, I am just one more red neck in a Jeep, plus being an LSU prof gives you a lot of credit around here. LA folks only:

http://www.epr-art.com/galleries/c1/

(I am just putting a link, I realize that my Boucherie pictures are not for the faint of heart.)

[z_photo]

Ed, that reminds me of similar events at my grandparents' farm. since you may know the area, it was just west of melodia plantation adjacent to what is now devillier rd. along 308. many years ago indeed. while it was a much smaller event, those photos brought back the smells and all the rest. but that was some damn good sausage and hog head cheese!

[Ed Richards]

Z,

We have a technological advance - the Cajun Microwave. It is a steel box and coals are piled on the lid. You flatten out the pig on a rack and put in the box. Makes the skin crispy without having to turn it on a spit.:-)

[tgtaylor]

Years ago, while driving back home on a late Friday afternoon from New Iberia, I stopped for a beer at a typical Route 90 roadhouse. Including myself there were maybe a dozen or so patrons in the place which had an interior that was painted in black. Sitting at the bar drinking my beer the lights suddenly went low and a red spotlight shown centered on a black double curtain. From inside the curtain came some wicked rock guitar and, to my surprise, out popped Johnny and Edgar Winters. Although I was surprised by their sudden and unexpected appearance. the brothers were as well known as Irma Thomas and Ernie Kado