I have an exhibit of 7x17 contact prints at a local library during PhotoNOLA 2019: https://photonola.org/event/the-othe...-thom-bennett/
I have an exhibit of 7x17 contact prints at a local library during PhotoNOLA 2019: https://photonola.org/event/the-othe...-thom-bennett/
“The Other City” is a suite of black & white photographs inspired by the book, “Run, Baby, Run” by Michael Allen Zell. The characters of this gritty, noir crime novel move through a New Orleans only locals know, which Zell has dubbed, The Other City. Thom Bennett has utilized his 100-year-old 7″x17″ Korona panorama camera to explore this city – the crumbling buildings; underneath the bridges; beside the railroad tracks – to discover the backdrop of Zell’s characters. Though the photographs are unpopulated, the traces of the people who have recently left their marks here are evident in the tones and details of the silver chloride contact prints.
Way to go, Thom! For those of us who are unable to travel to NO for the exhibition will you be posting them on your website or other site for viewing? I'm going to have to pick up Zells book. I haven't read a good NO detective novel since Burke's Dave Robicheaux novels.
Thomas
Thanks Thomas. I will be putting them on my website, probably in the next week. I'll take some install shots to post here as well.
Michael's book is a fun read. He's got two more in the series (Law & Desire and City Krystal Soulman) that I haven't read but, once I do, I may keep going with my series.
Let us know when they are on the website.
I'll be in south Mississippi around Christmas but I don't think I'll have a day to go to NO, as me and my wife have liked to do once in a while, but maybe...
Corran, if you do get to New Orleans, here's the listings for all of the PhotoNOLA exhibitions. Most will be up until January, some longer.
https://photonola.org/photonola-2019/exhibitions/
Got some images onto the website: http://www.thombennettphotographs.com/new-page-1
Man, there's a lot going on in New Orleans. Congratulations Mr. Bennett! I'm sure your show will be a highlight; I wish I could attend.
Great images Thom and they bring back old memories. The bridge in the last image struck me as being the bridge over the Industrial Canal on Chef Menteur so I googled it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danziger_Bridge and it is - only its the new replacement bridge constructed in the 1980's. I must have drove over the old bridge several hundred times. Along with the Sanger theatre, Lowes State Theatre, and the RKO Orpheum, the Joy ranks was the top movie theatres in New Orleans when I was growing-up. I saw The Sting which featured the music of Scott Joplin which resulted in the revival of ragtime music at the Joy and along with every kid in New Orleans I saw the Ten Commandments at the Orpheum. We were bussed there by the schools - mandatory attendance as New Orleans back then was 99% Roman Catholic. The 3d image up looks like it could be a view across Canal street to the "American Sector" near Camp and Canal. In the early days of photography Camp & Canal street was a hub of photography where numerous photography studios were located.
Anyway, thanks for the posting.
Thomas
Yes, we have a very active photo community and the PhotoNOLA Festival tries to tap into as much of that as possible.
New Orleans was the 2nd city in the U.S. to have a daguerreotype studio. Jules Lion, a lithographer, learned the process from Daguerre (or one of his assistants) and began offering daguerreotypes in the city in 1840. The New Orleans Museum of Art was one of the first museums of note to include photographs in its collection and the number now exceeds 10,000 photographs from the very earliest of photography to the most contemporary work. The Ogden Museum of Southern Art has a photography gallery that always has interesting, thoughtful exhibitions. The Historic New Orleans Collection holds many local photographers archives. A Gallery for Fine Photography is one of the best retail galleries in the U.S. And that's just scratching the surface.
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