Pictures you didn't take

[Ed Richards]

As many of you know, I have a long term project to document Hurricane Katrina. Part of that was to put Katrina in the larger context of hurricanes and South Louisiana, to show that Katrina was not unusual, that what was unusual was that NO went 40 years since the last flooding. I planned to shoot the areas west of NO that did not get flattened by Katrina, but only made a few trips, figuring I had time. Depending on how much strength Gustav comes ashore with, those areas may be flattened as well, leaving me with "after" pictures again, rather than the planned "before" the storm pictures. So, when you have a good idea, go shoot it!

www.epr-art.com

[z_photo]

have you done any work in the marshes of terrebonne, lafourche, st mary parishes etc? any work in places like dulac, cocodrie, chauvin.etc?were i able to spend time in LA i would love to do a lot of work down there. as go the marshlands, so goes the future of southernmost settlements in the pelican state

[Bruce Watson]

"Today is the day!" -- Ruth Bernhard

Good luck and stay safe Ed. And everyone else in the region.

[Brian Ellis]

I agree. I've always liked Ruth Bernhard's adage for making photographs when you see them: "Today is the day, now is the time." Many times I've said that to myself when I've been debating whether to make a photograph or wait 'till another time. Not that it's kept me from delaying to my detriment occasionally but probably less often than I would have otherwise.

[Ed Richards]

Z,

I have shots from dulac, cocodrie, chauvin. I have not been in the marshes too much - I leave that to folks in boats like CC Lockridge. I would post an image, but I am on battery power at the moment and my main computer is shut down until we get reliable power again. The storm is just starting to pass over Baton Rouge, so we have about 12 interesting hours ahead of us.

As for how the marshes go - they are going to disappear over the next 20-40 years. Forget all those weepy stories about the nasty oil companies and their canals, and forget any dreams of coastal restoration. The only thing that matters is geology. Southern LA is on a sinking crustal plate. Until the Mississippi was levied, starting in the late 1800s, the Mississippi flooded the whole delta on a regular basis, writhing across the area like a snake, with several major tributaries. Mud from the midwest kept the land level with the subsidence rate. Once the mud stopped, the land continued to sink. Since the land is only a foot or two above sea level as much as 25 miles inland, and all the way to NO on the east, the marshes disappear as the land sinks. Coastal restoration fails on two counts. First, there is no place to get enough mud to do it. You would have to let the midwest flood again to load the river, or at least barge a lot of Kansas to LA. Second, no one wants their land covered with mud, esp. folks in New Orleans. But if you cannot build up the land, all you can do is create a ridge on the edge, with the land continuing to sink behind the ridge.

I looked into the geology after Katrina, and realized that these towns and the whole south LA area is going to go, it is just a question of timing. The scenario will be gradual sinking, punctuated by catastrophic storms.

[Ash]

There was a building for the homeless and the scumbags (I say that with authority having come across most of them).

Anyway, the building was initially "Salvation Army" as part for a 'new' town the building was sloooowly demolished over a number of weeks (2-3 I believe). Every day I went past the building on a bus. Every day the sun was perfectly shining on the slowly sinking building. Every day the piles of rubble grew next to the building stripped bare.

Yes, every day of it is burned onto my mind, and not a single day is in a photograph.

[Clay Turtle]

I agree. I've always liked Ruth Bernhard's adage for making photographs when you see them: "Today is the day, now is the time." Many times I've said that to myself when I've been debating whether to make a photograph or wait 'till another time. Not that it's kept me from delaying to my detriment occasionally but probably less often than I would have otherwise.

Know what ya mean, I went out to one of the islands accessible only by boat. It had been a site of a fort but was now a seabird sanctuary. We had gone with the intent of shell collecting & sitting on the beach. Walking past the old fortifications, I wanted to photograph them but needed to shed some of the excess baggage (beach chairs, cooler, etc). I started to get annoyed as the other party was lagging behind (stopped to look at an old tower) frustrated I put everything down & backtracked to find her. She had seen a hawk then pointed it out as it flew into the ruins. I was stunned, what a perfect shot as the hawk landed on a window [less] frame. Perfectly framed in the window of the old fort & my camera was with the rest of the gear! I had intended to shoot in the area but wanted to change lens (shorter lens) so I had been in a hurry to deposit everything on the beach & come back to do some shooting

[darr]

Dear Mr. Ed,

I thought of you when I began tracking Gustav. Stay safe and there WILL be many more unique and telling photos up ahead. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Best,
Darr

[Nathan Potter]

Ed the sinking delta is a story repeated around the world in delta regions although there are local variations in the details. Venice Italy is a classic example. As sediments build up, the earths crust becomes slightly depressed due to the ever increasing weight. As you suggest the sinking surface is replaced with additional silt keeping the delta at close to sea level. In some delta regions this balance is amazingly consistent over geologic time. In the Mississippi delta region the process has been corrupted by the levee system which robs the redeposition of silt from the delta region outside of the river channel. The problem for the outlying parishes is intractable.
They will gradually sink displacing a way of life that is pretty unique. The word is; document now while remnants of a historic culture is still around.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[z_photo]

Excellent, Ed. I really enjoyed looking through your photographs. Lots of fond memories of running around that part of the country before I left for school. Drives to the end of a lot of roads were always interesting. I wish I'd been more interested in photography when we used to tramp around swamps catching crawfish, when out casting for shrimp off the beach at grand isle or when shivering on the levees at those bon fires. Seems it was a lot colder in those days.

hope you didn't have too much damage and that all is well. hurricane memories i have are not so good

I'm thinking about taking extended vacations to go back down there to shoot a lot more. I am also giving serious thought to looking for a house.