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Tag: New Orleans

Until Further Notice…

Until Further Notice…

We have been on lock down for seven weeks… or forty nine days… or one thousand one hundred and seventy six hours…

For weeks now, much of the French Quarter has been boarded up and empty. We had heard that several street artists have taken to decorating the boarded up windows, so to mark the anniversary of our seventh week of isolation, we decided to sneak a peek.

… nobody is home…

We arrived with the face masks that a local artist and friend made for us in hand, ready to have a “socially distant” experience… though we found the streets basically deserted.

Sorry, no reservations

It was quite eerie to find Bourbon Street so desolate and quiet. A few people rode their bikes through, but it was missing the usual sound of a bustling crowd. No street performers busking, no barkers barking up the wrong tree as they try to get us to go into a strip club. No clatter of dishes being served at any restaurants. Just the occasional chirp of a bird hanging out above a window.

We didn’t find too much by way of street art here. I have to say most of the good stuff was down on Decatur and on Frenchman Street. In my short time here, I definitely feel a resilience within the residents. The people of New Orleans have been through it before… and they’ll keep on keepin’ on with a wry perspective…

But is it art, sweetie?
Audrey Hepburn New Orleans
It’s Serious
6 Feet Y'all
6 Feet Y’all
Dali, the patron saint of TP
Salvador Dalis or Salvadors Dali?
Hello? Can you speak up?
How much is that doggie in the window
Rhino Love
We need a Wonder Woman to save us
The Heroes we need right now

Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below…


Deep Thoughts

Deep Thoughts

I was digging through the closet when I stumbled on something that I hadn’t really looked at in quite some time.

Picture it, Long Beach, 2004. My husband Robert’s work was hosting its annual Christmas party. The coveted door prize that year, airfare for two anywhere in the US. When they called his name, it is said that everyone in attendance heard him excitedly exclaim “YES!” When he returned to his seat after claiming his prize, he turned and whispered to me, “we’re going to New Orleans!” He had lived there for a spell, and its a place that I always wanted to see. So win, win.

St Charles Street Car
One of my favorite shots from our first trip to New Orleans

We arrived in New Orleans on May 12, 2005. The weather was hot and humid, but with Robert playing tour guide, I was able to see the city through the lens of a former resident. Of course we walked all over the French Quarter, but we also took the streetcar out to Camellia Grill and got over to Vaughn’s to see Kermit Ruffins play [and got to eat beans and rice between sets]. We were only there for a little over a week, but it goes without saying, there is something about New Orleans that will get in your soul.

American Paint Works
New Orleans is a city of many textures

Fast forward to August, when the city was struck by tragedy when the levee system failed, resulting in major flooding of the basin. As the waters receded, it was heartbreaking to see and hear the stories from people in a city that I just visited a few months before. 

I decided that I wanted to help in some, however small, way. Pulling from the negatives of the photos that I took on our trip, I made a slew of prints and enlargements. Then we set up a booth at the monthly art walk in downtown Long Beach where we raised money for the New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund and the Louisiana SPCA. Granted, it wasn’t a lot, but we were able to raise a couple hundred dollars for both organizations.

Bacci Supervising
Bacci supervising as I cut matte boards
Artwalk Display
Photos on display

Having recently returned from what is now our eighth trip back to New Orleans, it was a funny coincidence that I should re-discover several leftover unsold prints tucked away in the closet. Though I haven’t decided what I should do with the prints, it was still nice to take a moment and reflect on those photographs taken during my first trip to NOLA.