Ai Minnesota Photography/Film New Orleans Travel and Study Program

2012 Trip Registration Period NOW through March 16th!!

2012-02-10T08:38:00.003-06:00

The registration deadline for the the NOLA Travel & Study Program is March 16th! Ask your advisor, DIrector, or Becky Olstad for more information!

Day 8: Recap

2011-06-29T13:28:00.003-05:00

5:30am
Becky took Mataya to the neighborhood where her documentary was taking place for some sunrise b-roll.

5:45am
I took Megan to L'il Dizzy's to do sunrise b-roll inside the restaurant--the prep chef; the dew on the windows; the waitresses arriving, etc.

8:45am
Leaving Megan to continue gathering footage, I joined Becky and Mataya at the church to be the sound gal for her two camera operation. Becky manned the P2 Mataya set up in the balocony, Mataya roamed around cpaturing closer views, and I sat on the floor, with the Zoom sound recorder.

11:05am
Leave church to retrieve Megan...take her to the hotel.

11:30am
We heard back at the hotel that the Gay Pride Parade was going to be emanating very close to the hotel, so a few ran over to take pictures there.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with students getting their edits ready for the New Orleans Photo Alliance critique at 5pm....

4:30pm
We piled into the van and went to the Photo Alliance for our final critique, followed by a celebratory dinner at Juan's Flying Burrito.

9:30pm
Everyone followed Tony to the Howlin' Wolf's Den to capture the last of his footage on brass bands where he began: The Hot 8 Brass Band. The rest just went to enjoy the music.

Day 7: Cemeteries, Rivers, Interviews, Oh My!

2011-06-26T16:08:00.004-05:00

As the time here grows shorter, it also seems to speed up for the students. More appointments, more urgency...but we still make time for our sunrise image making:

St. Roch's Campo Santo

McDonoghville Cemetery in Algiers

Then after a brief unsuccessful hunt for alligators on Airline Drive with Jorah, I dropped her at the hotel and picked up Devin and Tony. I dropped them at Bourbon Street, where Tony had an interview with a senior member on a brass band, and another brass band he'd already interviewed was playing. I joined them after an errand, and finding parking. There was also a corporate sponsored flash mob...from Popeye's. Don't ask.

We had a critique to cap the day, reviewing and making suggestions for Sunday night and the critique at the Photo Alliance.

Late Night Editing on the Patio

2011-06-25T22:05:00.001-05:00

Prepping for our critique with the New Orleans Photo Alliance tomorrow!

Sunrise in the Cemetery

2011-06-25T10:36:00.002-05:00

Day 6: Vacation Day!

2011-06-25T10:00:00.006-05:00

Yesterday (Friday) we took a road trip out through Bay St. Louis along the Gulf of Mexico and on to the beach at Pass Christian. For two remarkable stories on this area - you can find the This American Life episode we listened to in the car online here: This American Life.

Colleen made friends with some fishermen:

All that relaxation was utterly exhausting:

After a few power naps we reconvened at the Blue Nile where Devin was filming local vocalist Mykia Jovan. (Fall in love with her online here: Mykia Jovan

Day 5: Hump Day of our Trip

2011-06-24T17:53:00.004-05:00

Our class is exactly half complete.

5:20am

Sunrise at Lake Pontchartrain. Our numbers were few, but a force with whom to be reckoned. I took them to the jetty out by the yacht club on Lake Pontchartrain. We were virtually alone and the sound of the water was terrific. The sky was performing perfectly, as it has for most of the trip.

10am

Becky left with Mataya to return to St. Katherine's for another interview, some b-roll, etc. They were out almost all day!

12:34pm

I took Megan and Devin out to pick up the talented chanteuse, Mykia Javon we met at Bullet's on Tuesday night. Devin has convinced her to be the subject of a mini-documentary. She got in the car, and we drove to Algiers Point for a backdrop of the French Quarter.

We had lunch and learned all about this terrific woman, and Devin did a great job with the interview...and we even met a young singer songwriter, who was out for a bike ride...he stayed and watched the whole interview, and then asked if he could hear Mykia sing, and she okay, and she just lit up the dirt parking lot we were walking through...then the kid sang back to her. It was magic.

more on the documentary progress tomorrow...

4pm

I dropped Devin and Megan at Three Muses for Megan's shoot and interview, and took Mykia home.

7pm

Picked up the two at Three Muses and headed in for the night.

Day 5: Sunrise at the Lake

2011-06-23T19:30:00.001-05:00

Day 4:

2011-06-23T10:44:00.008-05:00

5:30am

We went to Holy Cross this morning. When I say, we, I mean Becky, Tony, Jorah, and Mataya...the rigors of our long days do take a toll...But generally the group has been an excellent early-rising sunrise force! Once the bugs starting biting up on the levee, I told the troops where the best spot up there was for looking back over the canal at the main part of the city, and high-tailed it for the van. Becky too.

9:10am

After a quick breakfast, we all headed out once again for the Times-Picayune. Established in 1837, the Times-Picayune has maintained a strong and vital force in New Orleans in print and in an ever-expanding web version. For it's Katrina coverage the paper shared the Pulitzer in 2005 with a paper in Gulfport Mississippi.

The paper has at times had writers the likes of O. Henry and William Faulkner, but I am just as content to see current reporter, John Pope, always in a bow tie, a proper southern gentleman on my way in and out of today's newsroom.

But nothing can match getting to hang out with our friends in the Photography Department. They are all wonderful, and each time Becky and I have been down, they have been very generous with their time, and have allowed students (and us) to shadow them on shoots.

We split up in two cars this time, and Becky stayed behind and participated in the morning budget meeting. Mataya, Megan, and I went with photo-journalist John McCusker. Who was on assignment to cover the ground breaking of the new WYES tv studio.

We learned that sometimes the best pictures to be made are those that don't conform to the camera-ready moments created to be photographed. John made a great picture of the station's general manager in the doorway of the soon-to-be demolished original studio (built in 1957).

We also had the privilege of meeting Dave Walker (see photo of hands), who was writing the accompanying article.

After the assignment, John drove us to Gentilly, and walked us up on to the bridge over the London Avenue Canal (very near where one of my tree pictures was made on Warrington), explained the levee breeches to the students, how the levees were built and why they failed, and shared his own story from the massive failure of the levees in 2005.

We then rejoined the others at the newspaper and headed to lunch together. We switched up groups a little so a photographer was at each table.

Because John is also an accomplished music writer, I got Tony to join him for lunch, and he had some great advice. Not to be overly gushy, but Becky and I cannot thank the photographers of the Times-Picayune enough for once again showing our students what they do, and sharing so deeply in both their experiences on and off the job. It is an invaluable gift to not only hear about integrity in journalism but to see it demonstrated. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

2:15pm

We dropped Mataya and Jorah off, so Jorah could get some photographs of the alligators being fed. Then we headed back to the hotel for a needed rest....not to mention catching up on the blogging and downloading of cards!

I Can See Clearly Now

2011-06-22T15:42:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, in between all of the work, we manage to have a little fun...

Day 3: Recap

2011-06-22T08:56:00.002-05:00

5:30am
Sunrise shoot in the French Quarter. All, but Devin, made it out for this our second sunrise shoot. It was a smidge more humid than our first couple of days, but no humidity. Fogged lenses remained so by the time we reached Jackson Square. The only folks around were street cleaners, the usual array of characters snoozing on benches, a fellow strumming a guitar before work, and the lady selling the coffee and bignets at the Cafe du Monde. Bliss.

8:15am
Back to the hotel for breakfast and some needed download and capture time.

10:30am
We had a review of the film dailies--or rather, bi-dailies, I suppose. Some good beginnings, but much more work is needed. With Becky and Jorah hitting the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain and Insta-Gator, I had the film crew, and plans were set for the afternoon's driving schedule.

12:30pm
Everyone piled into the SUV and we headed to Little Dizzy's. We discussed shot set ups, based on earlier discussions in the critique, and we set about the task of creating some meaningful b-roll.

It's always nice when a student embraces the food culture of New Orleans as a topic, because we get to try some truly wonderful food. Little Dizzy's was epic in this regard. It was a buffer of friend chicken, red beans and rice, gumbo, potatoes, and everything in between!

Three words: Best gumbo ever.

1:45pm
After lunch, I left Devin and Megan to their work, and took Mataya to her location-St. Katerine's Drexel. She was setting up for an interview with the choir master, followed by a choir rehearsal.

2:20pm
Devin texted that Megan was done and they were ready to be picked up. So I hopped in the van and made my way back over there, picked them up, dropped them at the church with Mataya, and zoomed back to the hotel to pick up my laptop, so I could work while waiting for choir practice to end. But we all sort of ended up shooting, and it turned out to be a good think I'd cleared my cards. Mataya shot a combined 68GB of footage in one hour.

Scouting the Hot 8 | Shooting the Mississippi

2011-06-21T17:35:00.004-05:00

An excerpt from our scouting mission on Sunday night at the Howlin' Wolf Den:

Above: Sunday night, 2300hrs. Below: Monday morning, a 0520 call time to catch the sunrise on the Mississippi:

Day 3: Mataya Getting Ready for Her Choir Leader Interview

2011-06-21T16:18:00.002-05:00

Mataya's project on St. Katherine's Drexel Catholic Church is going well. Next stop: Choir practice!

Day 3: Sunrise Walk in the Quarter

2011-06-21T09:33:00.004-05:00

Another beautiful morning greeted us, albeit hot) about 80 degrees at 5:30am).

We walked to the French Quarter this morning and enjoyed the almost-empty and almost-quiet streets of the usually frenetic Vieux Carré.

Day 2: Recap

2011-06-21T09:09:00.002-05:00

5:20am

Becky gets up and leads some of the group on a sunrise walk to the ferry.

8am

Colleen and Jorah head to Lafitte, LA for a swamp tour.

10:30am

Becky takes group to act as film crew for Mataya's documentary on St. Catherine's Drexel Catholic Church in mid-city.

Mid-afternoon

Group meets up at hotel to discuss the rest of the shooting day. Jorah decides to use the afternoon to download and edit photographs, and at 4:30pm the rest go to Three Muses in the Fauberg-Merigny for footage and interviews for Megan's documentary on restaurants, and for Tony's documentary.

9:30pm

After the pick up of the film crew from the Marigny, we had an end of day review of the plans for Tuesday, and looked at Jorah's photographs.

10:30pm

Whew! I was still really tired from our long first day, and was only able to read a few pages, before I dropped off to sleep.

Day 2: Continued...

2011-06-20T19:58:00.002-05:00

After a harrowing 18 hour trip to Atlanta, Megan's equipment arrived at the hotel just in time to depart for her interview with the proprietor of Three Muses in the Marigny. See the below photograph by classmate, Devin Meierding, of Megan in action!

Tony is also working there tonight with the chef's husband who is a musician! Becky and I are really looking forward to the dailies on folks' blogs!

Day #2: Swamp Tour with Jorah

2011-06-20T13:44:00.000-05:00

Becky and I split up to get folks to their various destinations today. She took the early shift to the ferry and Algiers Point, and I headed out to Lafitte with Jorah (project on gators) for the air boat swamp tour. And man did these guys deliver!!!

Day 1: The Recap

2011-06-20T07:54:00.002-05:00

5:15am
Arrive at airport

6am
Find out we could have slept later

6:30
...much later

9am
Arrive in Memphis and discover the gate at which we were deposited, a half hour later than anticipated, is two airport lengths from our already-boarding flight.

12:30pm Arrive at the hotel with Jorah, Mataya, Devin, and Tony, and some of their luggage. We decided to leave the rental car place with Becky behind us, otherwise the students would miss the tour--a very important overview of the city.

1pm
We boarded the tour bus, and had a great tour. Everyone was relieved we would be stopping for some quick takeout, as it had been some time since we'd eaten!

4:30pm
Arrived back at the hotel, and had a much needed break to unpack!

6pm
We went to Tippitina's Uptown for the weekly Fe Do-do. Bruce Daigrepont's Cajun beats filled the hall, and the 50 or so people who weekly arrive at 5pm to dance were already reeling around the dance floor!

Junior-High-dance-style, we all sat along one side of the dance floor in folding chairs. Everybody danced eventually, and Tony even discovered his true calling: washboard musician!

7:45pm
Dinner Break!

9:45pm
We left for our second musical epiphany of this loonnnnnng first day: to see tue Hot 8 Brass Band at Wolf's Den.

By now, dear reader, you may be questioning the pedagogy behind the music, but the first venue was to bathe in real local culture--one where cake and ice water are the prevailing vices, contrary to the NOLA first-timer's view that there is nothing beyond Bourbon Street. But the Wolf's Den was so our student Tony could meet up with one of his desired subjects for his documentary film on Brass. By this last late, but incredibly rewarding, musical wonderment, our numbers had dwindled to two students, Becky, and me. Becky and I were exhausted. But I'll tell you, there's a reason there's a brass band at every funeral. That music lifts you up.

12:30pm
Some late-night blogging and catching up via email with our mortal lives, we all probably had the most restful and sound sleep we can remember in recent history!

Fais do-do! (Cajun Dance Party!)

2011-06-20T00:09:00.001-05:00

Making friends on our first day in New Orleans at Tipitina's:

Day #1, Part II

2011-06-19T18:47:00.001-05:00

Cajun Music. Tony has found a new avocation.

Day 1

2011-06-19T13:21:00.001-05:00

Well, after a late flight out of MSP, a long wait to pull in off the Tarmac in MSY, and Becky sacrificing her tour ticket to await the rental van that wasn't cleaned yet--even though we were late....we are on the bus for the tour of New Orleans!

Don't forget your sunscreen!

2011-06-16T21:42:00.002-05:00

See you bright and early Sunday morning! In the meantime, enjoy this link on fighting lens fog in humid climates!

Packing Tips #1

2011-06-09T12:04:00.002-05:00

BATTERIES!

I thought I'd share the TSA link on traveling with batteries, so everyone has the actual information. But most importantly do not put any Lithium batteries in checked baggage. None. Click on the picture for more info:

Building the Visual Narrative

2011-06-08T15:44:00.001-05:00

The Visual Narrative

When photographing a picture story, there are several important elements that you need to be looking for while shooting. These will help you to build a coherent story as you edit.

The Lead Picture:

All stories need a picture that sums up the essence of the message you are trying to communicate about your subjects. Keep asking yourself, while you spend time with your subjects, what is the story here? What, in a few short sentences, describes the arc of these people’s lives and how can I show that? Give your story a title, this will help you sum up what your story is about.

The Scene Setter:

We need to have a sense of place in every story. Where are we? Where is this story taking place? A farm, hospital room, a street a kitchen?

The Portrait:

If your story is about people, as most of them will be, we need to get a good look at their faces. A portrait can be something captured in the course of covering their daily lives or it could be something more formal with or without eye contact.

Interaction:

This is the meat and potatoes of most picture stories. We need to see spontaneous moments where your subjects are interacting with their families, friends, environments, pets, or even themselves. These should be telling moments that give further information supporting what you are trying to say about your subjects.

Moments:

In all of your pictures look for moments. A moment is a place in time when the action in a photograph reaches some kind of resolution or peak. All the elements in the frame converge for a split second to reveal the essence of that particular situation. Look for moments that reveal the inner story of our subjects. How do they feel about their lives, their partners, friends and their situation.

Details:

You can add texture and visual variety to a story with a telling detail of personal objects, a pair of shoes, an old wedding photo, dirty hands, a tattered hem, a treasured toy, etc.

Shooting any idea or assignment as a picture story will give you an organized way to cover any subject. Even if ultimately only one photograph will be used from your take you will know your subject better and give editors more options which may lead them to run more of your pictures.

This technique is also useful if you aspire to do longer projects for magazines or books. Working to create visual narratives will help you organize your approach to a subject and you will begin to create a body of work that is about something and goes beyond a collection of unrelated single images.

Week 5 = Week 1 for the 2011 Class!

2011-05-10T09:49:00.003-05:00

We had our first meeting of the NOLA Travel and Study group last Wednesday. Becky gave us a great round of NOLA trivia, that stumped even me at times. I was in charge of throwing Mardi Gras beads for correct and nearly-correct answers!

We talked about the expectations for the class, and how the weekly schedule works. And I think this sums it all up: We're going to New Orleans!

Some Things to Consider Over Spring Break!

2011-03-23T13:23:00.001-05:00

Suggested Digestion
You need to be inspired in order to get where you are going here are some great tools:

READING

* Zeitoun – by Dave Eggers (textbook required) – Vintage
Since this is the required text, at the least, you should get on Amazon end order it, but start reading it, and you will be ahead of the game! It is a very fast read. So you are prepared, you will be asked to write a reflective essay on the book, so keep notes for your NOLA blog!

Suggested Reading:

Doing Documentary Work – Robert Coles - Oxford University Press

Witness in our Time: Working Lives of Documentary Photographers – Ken Light – Smithsonian Books

The Journey is the Destination - The Journals of Dan Eldon - Dan Elson – Chronicle Books

A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge - Josh Neufeld – Pantheon

The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast - Douglas G. Brinkley – Harper Perrennial

Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City – Jed Horne – Random House

Why New Orleans Matters – Tom Piazza – Harper Perennial

The Ravaging Tide: Strange Weather, Future Katrinas, and the Coming Death of America's Coastal Cities– Mike Tidwell – Free Press

A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams (Play, 1947)

WATCHING
*American Experience: New Orleans – PBS (required during pre-travel course)

*When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts – Spike Lee (required during pre-travel course)

*The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams’ Appalachia (required during pre-travel course)

These are the required films. You may want to watch them in advance of the rush of the quarter. So you are prepared, you will be asked to write a reflective essay on each, so keep notes for your NOLA blog!

Suggested viewing:

Treme – 2010 – HBO Series

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans – 2009

Angel Heart – 1987

All the King’s Men – 2006

The Big Easy – 1987

LISTENING

This American Life - NPR - thislife.org
#296 "After the Flood"

This American Life - NPR - thislife.org
#297 "This is no my Beautiful House"

This American Life - NPR - thislife.org
#372 "The Inauguration Show"

June 19-27, 2011 * JOIN US!

2011-01-14T13:01:00.009-06:00

Summer 2011 New Orleans Trip Registration Now Open

The Photography Program is happy to announce the 2011 New Orleans Travel & Study Program! The class will travel June 19-27, with pre-travel session meetings starting in March.

The course will include visiting photographers and curators to critiques, museum tours, a whole city tour, a behind the scenes tour of the Time Picayune newspaper, and much much more!

Take Photographic Essays and Visual Narratives (PH3410) which can be subbed for Short Media Production (DF3430) in America's rich cultural southern capital, New Orleans! Learn about the culture, history, and fantastic cuisine, that make this amazing city so famous. Work on a project that captures that spirit, in the midst of recovery six years after Hurricane Katrina and one since the disastrous BP oil spill. (Prerequisite PH2470).

See Michelle Bean in Academic Advising (LaSalle 316), Becky Olstad, Faculty (Pence 321), or Colleen Mullins, Academic Director (LaSalle 341) for details, or email Colleen at cmullins@aii.edu for registration forms and tentative itinerary!

Minimum 2.5 GPA to participate in the program. Appeal letters for students falling below that level should accompany registration forms and deposits. Letters should describe the project you plan to undertake while in New Orleans. Deposits will NOT be cashed unless student is approved for entry.

You're Invited!

2010-11-03T07:05:00.003-05:00

1853 Days Later: New Orleans Now

2010-10-04T15:57:00.008-05:00

When we started our classes with students, seven weeks before the trip, we posed that they could pick any story. This program isn't about the rehashing of water-lined houses, or the still-present giant red spray painted X's on their sides. It's about an examination of one of America's great cities, and celebrating the culture, diversity, and daily life within. Katrina, we always tell students, needn't be covered, because she is in everything--eventually. Sometimes she rears her head easily--as in the work of Shelly Benson and her careful and thoughtful examination of Tennessee Street in the Lower 9th Ward, and at other times in more subtle ways, as in Krystal Hoover's work on the kids of Katrina--it turns out, kids will be kids. Fewer are the playgrounds, but joyful are their occupants.

During an interview Devin Meierding conducted on Thursday at Musician's Village, his subject said, "I want this to be a positive thing--no negatives--nothing about why I'm moving." And I thought to myself, as I'd thought many times this past week, "Why?" In her case it was, as I did a little digging on the internet, because non-disclosure agreements are being required in order that remediation of Chinese drywall installed in Musician's Village can take place (I imagine that's why). There are two sides to every story, some of those other sides will emerge as films and photo essays are refined in the coming weeks. But many won't. Pretty pictures are more desirable to paint.

Home is home was the enduring message across all projects this time. The marvelous fishermen of the fishing villages of Yscloskey and Delacroix (introduced in part of Adam Theis' film) teach us that, through their generations-deep traditions of crabbing, fishing, etc.

But I feel compelled to share a little reading material. Because for all the good and wonderful things, there are some that while smiling and sharing the greatest positivity, our subjects choose to omit. It's understandable. They just want us and our folks to know Greater New Orleans is a great place to visit. And it is. So do. But read the following, and know there is still so much to do:

On the musicians' plight - http://www.propublica.org/article/is-chinese-drywall-making-habitat-for-humanitys-houses-uninhabitable

On the BP educational effort - http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/in-outreach-to-schools-bp-and-noaa-dispel-myths-about-dispersants-subsurfac

In Case You Are Around Today or Tomorrow....

2010-10-01T16:25:00.001-05:00

The menu

Day 7: Friday Dinner on Tennessee Street

2010-10-01T16:07:00.005-05:00

We had a group last meal on Tennessee Street today courtesy of the Dupars. Most had catfish, some had chicken, and one had a stuffed pepper...all provided with copious sides of green peas, macaroni and cheese, and potato salad. Yum!

Nobody wants to go home....

One will be in trouble when she gets there...

A View From Days Six and Seven

2010-10-01T09:52:00.003-05:00

Dinner at Franky & Johnny's after the sunset shoot at The Chalmette Battleground (Day 5)

2010 New Orleans Nine list occupant, the home of Professor Longhair (Day 6)

Peach awaiting fried chicken at Willie Mae's (Day 6)

(Above) The Departed; St Bartholomew's Cemetery; Algier's Point. (Below) House of Mirrors; KK Projects; St. Roch (Day 7)

Too busy!

2010-09-30T10:28:00.003-05:00

As you might expect, things have been pretty hectic here in the New Orleans Travel and Study class. Today is our last full day of shooting so the soccer-moming is at its peak today. Please be sure to check the students blogs for individual updates on their projects.

In the meantime -- we need to send a very special thank you to Doug Parker and the photographers over at the Times Picayune newspaper for hosting us yesterday. It's always a special experience for us to hear about their work. Colleen, Adam and I rode along with Ted Jackson to Delacroix to continue to research the seafood industry. We met with Thomas Gonzales and his wife Joan.

Tommy is 72, going on 73 and has been crabbing since "he could walk."

A Few Photographs From Monday....

2010-09-30T09:03:00.002-05:00

Miss Whitley and her first-ever po-boy.

Miss Peach photographing in St. Roch.

Miss Shelly with Miss Ashley on the mic, finish up an interview with Robert Green.

(Above) The cast-off steps from Robert Green's now removed FEMA trailer; (Below) St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery No. 1.

Day 4: Morning Trip to Yscloskey

2010-09-30T08:40:00.000-05:00

Tuesday morning we travelled to the fishing village Yscloskey on the recommendation of Jennifer Zdon. It was so much more than this little video clip. But I'm starting here today...

Day 3: Settling Into Projects and Finding Our Pace

2010-09-28T17:55:00.016-05:00

Monday night when we had the big pow-wow about the coming days and scheduling rides to locations and appointments, nobody raised their hands for the sunrise shoot, and everyone looked completely exhausted, so we decided to bag it and have a morning off. The pressure can build quite a bit for students on this trip. This has been a pretty high performing group, in terms of both advance research and making appointments in advance of this trip, for the most part. The first student's shoot was fifteen minutes after we arrived Friday night. By Sunday, between all-day shooting schedules, tagging along and assisting on each other's shoots, everyone was pooped.

Our first trip out today was to The Ark in Uptown, a day facility for challenged adults, where one of Devin's subjects was performing. After we dropped him (and his able assistant, Whitley), we headed for the LaFayette Cemetery No. 1, where both Peach and Ashley needed to shoot.

I picked up Devin and Whitley and we stopped for a poboy and a praline before catching up with the cemetery women, who'd now migrated down Prytania to find more of Peach's structures.

Then we were off to The Ogden Museum of Southern Art to meet Richard McCabe, Preparator, who toured us through the Katrina Anniversary Exhibition put on by the National Press Photographers Association, "Telling Their Stories," Dave Anderson's, "One Block," and shared a group of Walker Evans pictures from the collection of Jessica Lange. He even read Fromm the Evans biography. It was pretty cool. We also got to see a terrific collection of country music memorabilia and photographs from the collection and camera of Marty Stuart. The ephemera included hand written lyrics from some of the greats, such as Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Sr., Emmy Lou Harris...you name it. There were lots of suit, boots, and terrific folk art paintings. We finished our visit with a group picture on the rooftop patio.

After, Becky took some students to their shoots (more to come from Becky on the edible schoolyard later), and I took Shelly, Peach, and Ashley off to the Lower 9th. Ashley made a great sound assistant for Shelly as she toured the neighborhood with Robert Green, while Peach and I toddled off for a church she wanted to rephotograph at sunset. After, we all made for the St. Roch Cemetery for Ashley and met three delightful kids who entertained us while Ashley worked away...

Day Four (morning): This is Where We Want to Be

2010-09-28T17:45:00.006-05:00

This morning's sunrise shoot was a road trip to Yscloskey, LA. Primarily this was for Adam to get some footage of fishermen to close the loop on the affect of the BP crisis on his restaurant. We met too many extraordinary people to list. Everyone was so friendly and kind, even the BP "hospitality team" that first greeted Becky and I beyond their checkpoint (that was blocking the way to Shell Beach, the Katrina Memorial, and a clear view of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet), and the second "hospitality team" that included a fellow who graciously shared BP's side of the story.

We met many fishermen who are now contracting to BP since the oil spill. They go out on boats to help BP find oil that comes to the surface.

When I speak with people who do not know New Orleans, they often make comments about how people shouldn't live somewhere where they'll be flooded out, or blown down. And usually, I say, "home is home." You can't leave it. And this beautiful place 45 minutes from the City of New Orleans, is just such a home to these people. Their enduring insistence on returning and rebuilding and doing what their families have done for as many as four generations (in the group I spoke with yesterday), make me understand even more what a magical place the Gulf Coast is.

This is Frank Campo. He owns Campo's Marine Fuel, and he'll never leave:

Thank you Frank, thank you everyone who opened up to us today, and once again showed our students that just saying hello can open doors one would never imagine. Best day ever.

Day 2 - Second Line

2010-09-27T22:00:00.002-05:00

These are some pictures from the largest second line parade of the season. It made the paper today! Six brass bands and six divisions participated. It was an amazing experience, and I was so glad I wasn't a fimmaker at that moment when the first gentleman emerged from the door, because you cannot help but dance. I'm using Becky's laptop now, so my pictures are embedded with her watermark.

Before the second line we hit the Lafayette #2 Cemetery....

Sunday: Tennessee Street

2010-09-27T10:20:00.011-05:00

While Shelly was filming a church service for her documentary on Robert Green and Tennessee Street, Krystal spent the morning at a nearby park for her project on the children of Katrina (with a little help from Niki).

Then, of course, as Colleen mentioned -- there was this:

Posted by Becky

Day Two: Or is it Twelve

2010-09-27T09:26:00.005-05:00

Sunday was amazing. First I was up at 5:50am to pick up a group and hit Holy Cross. We climbed the earthen levee there and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the morning, awaiting the sun--which did not disappoint. When the morning broke, it broke in a burst of orange on all of the objects along the Mississippi. We walked down the levee to the Global Green Initiative homes, and I talked a bit about what they are about. Then we walked up past the two pilot houses, and headed to the van for our first official project stop of the day, and church on St. Maurice Street, for Peach's project on the most endangered structures in New Orleans. It turns out it's a sunset shot, so we'll pick it up this afternoon.

We then headed off to Treme and visited St. Vincent De Paul Cemetery. A bit peckish, we then headed back to the hotel. Becky was off to Tennessee Street well before we returned with another group of students. I apologize for the delay, but we re finding ourselves so busy gathering experiences, we're having trouble staying current here. By the end of yesterday, in addition to those in this post, activities had included, another cemetery, a search for (and find of) a second line parade, Popeye's, running in the rain, and a lesson in Cajun Contradance by a fellow in a white wicker hat with green accents. Many more good pictures were made.

Visiting Robert

2010-09-26T10:23:00.007-05:00

After a quick minute at the hotel yesterday afternoon, we were off to Tennessee St. for Shelly's project. It was great. We were early, so we set Shelly up in the minivan with the door open...I drove very slowly and she captured footage from the length of Tennessee St. Then with the 7d 10-22mm lens. I think that worked better, having now reviewed footage. We still had a little time, so I drove them to shoot a Banksy piece a few blocks away (a shout out to our missing compadre; Katie), and Whitley was able to pick up lunch at a taco truck nearby (a shout out to Lisa Hylle--she's still there!).

Robert called and we went to his house where Shelly deftly interviewed him. He was going to the same music show Devin was later that night and called a friend for Devin to meet over a few streets: see Becky's notation on this. Said friend was able to tell us where to be today....dramatic pause....for the second line parade today.....

*I'm still experiencing technical issues, so pictures will populate these pages very soon!

Sunrise to Sunset

2010-09-25T23:54:00.006-05:00

As Becky already shared, we were up early with most of the students. This was the first time we've done an official sunrise trip on foot through the quarter. It was actually inspired by an unplanned journey Becky took on her own last year when somebody didn't show for his ride. She was already up, and found purchase in a Quarter somewhat vacant, but magical in it's quiet (distracted only occasionally by odd fellow who'd not quite found his sobriety or hotel from the night before). Well it didn't disappoint. We started at the foot of Iberville or by the river, then or to a jammy orange light on St. Louis Cathedral, a half-sleeping, kind of huggy brawl between drunks, smells I refuse to relive long enough to describe, Bourbon Street, and some good coffee and bignets. Good pictures were made.

Sunrise in the French Quarter

2010-09-25T18:14:00.006-05:00

(Above: Sunrise on the Mississippi)

The sunrise shoot this morning was in the French Quarter -- once again, the students learned learned lessons in humidity and spent time waiting for lenses to defog. It was an early morning for the students considering that many of them were working late last night in the French Quarter. (No, really -- shoots included the House of Blues and a burlesque show.) After that, it was a busy, productive day. We took the New Orleans Hurricane Katrina Tour again. This time with bus driver Dian Silva who volunteered after the storm to stay and transport evacuees and brought an interesting perspective to the 3.5 hour tour.

After the tour some of the students headed to the Lower 9th Ward while I took Adam over to Frankie and Johnny's where he is working on documenting their family restaurant. (The food, by the way, was excellent. However -- no oysters! Frankie and Johnny's always buys local seafood and the market has been tumultuous since the oil spill.)

More shooting happening tonight and potentially a second line tomorrow! Can't wait!
Be sure to check out the students' blogs for updates and samples of their work.

(The view from the Claiborne bridge looking back at the Lower 9th Ward and the Industrial Canal from our Katrina Tour. The Make It Right Foundation has rebuilt many of the homes in this portion of the neighborhood.)

We're Here

2010-09-25T09:15:00.001-05:00

My laptop died. So until over an iPad sometime today, I'm doing this from the iPhone ....

Location:St Peter St,New Orleans,United States

Are Your Bags Packed??!

2010-09-21T17:30:00.003-05:00

Mine are not. After three semi-successful loads of my little backpack, I'm breaking out the big guns. Do you remember that movie with Gina Davis and William Hurt? The Accidental Tourist? Well I remember there being something in that movie about never bringing more than one book, because nobody ever has time to finish even one on any given trip. I wonder if the same holds true for cameras. I have the one that makes square pictures, the one that makes rectangular pictures (thanks Chris), and the one that makes pixels. Oh, and I have the little one that makes pixels! I don't remember if the film had anything in it about packing.

The students are getting very excited. People are very well prepared, having made/found contacts for their projects, and many already have firm appointments. The diversity of projects is terrific, and with the addition of the film students, I'm very excited to see what will turn up this trip! Some of the highlights of my day today were hearing from Whitley that she's made contact with Meena Magazine, and with professors at both Tulane and Loyola for her documentary film project on Muslim culture in Greater New Orleans; Krystal was in a while ago and let me know that not only had she finally heard from people she had been trying to reach for her project on the children of Katrina (I envision a great typographic book cover that looks something like KIDS + KATRINA +5), but she even made a conneciton for Devin, who has also been a busy bee making contacts and plans!

I want to give a shout-out to two wonderful women who have been helping all of our students with amazing contacts and helpful introductions, Jennifer Shaw and Jennifer Zdon. The Jennifers rock! Well, I have laundry to do; and just in case there's a hard freeze while I'm away...some pickling to do as well!

Guest Speaker: Aaron Richey

2010-09-01T21:06:00.004-05:00

Special thanks goes out today to director and producer Aaron Richey, who stopped by to share his expertise on documentary film making and photojournalism with the students.

Remembering Katrina Five Years Later: Vincent LaForet

2010-08-29T20:04:00.001-05:00

More pictures.

AiM New Orleans Partner makes New York Times Front Page!

2010-08-25T14:37:00.002-05:00

Jennifer Zdon, a New Orleans photographer and friend, had a photograph on the front page of The New York Times yesterday! Way to go Jennifer! And thanks for all of the story leads you've been giving our students. You rock!

Tonight on 'Frontline' on PBS

2010-08-25T09:52:00.001-05:00

Global Green NOLA

2010-08-25T09:14:00.001-05:00

This is a great non-profit that has helped a number of students document rebuilding efforts in New Orleans. Check them out.

National Geographic "Witness: Katrina"

2010-08-24T14:53:00.003-05:00

This is from class participant Krystal Hoover. Great find to be aired on Monday, August 30 at 4pm. National Geographic's "Witness: Katrina."

Anderson Cooper 360: Live in NOLA All Week

2010-08-24T09:28:00.002-05:00

Anderson Cooper has been very dedicated to ensuring that NOLA stays in people's minds these five years. Here's a post from one of the team members down there for the 5-year anniversary of Katrina.

The Big Uneasy: A New Film By NOLA Resident Harry Shearer--One Night Only!!!

2010-08-24T09:06:00.004-05:00

I (Colleen) will be going to this next Monday the 30th at the Apple Valley location--I hope the whole class (if you aren't in class!!!) will be able to go out and see it! Tickets are available online at Fandango.com (there is a web address for more about that at the end of the below clip. It's showing one night only!

PBS News Hour Has Coverage From New Orleans All This Week.

2010-08-24T09:01:00.001-05:00

There is something in this piece from last night's News Hour for every single story we heard about in the class last week. Listen for names, neighborhoods. It's all there. They will be running more stories all week on local PBS stations at 6pm.

Fresh Air with Terry Gross Examines NOLA Police Post-Katrina

2010-08-05T15:05:00.002-05:00

Because the five-year anniversary of Katrina is quickly approaching, New Orleans stories will begin to percolate in the media. You will want to be attentive to National Public Radio, and to CNN's 360 with Anderson Cooper. Cooper has kept a steady eye on New Orleans over the last five year. He has diligently sought to make sure people don't forget about what happened five years ago, and what hasn't happened since.

This piece aired on NPR last night On Fresh Air with Terry Gross. It's unbelievable.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128974671

Telling Their Story: The Lingering Legacy of Katrina Photographs

2010-07-12T13:10:00.001-05:00

This is going to be a terrific repository for images of Katrina. http://tellingtheirstories.com/

Christopher Morris' Gulf Oil Spill Work Worth a Look...

2010-06-30T15:43:00.001-05:00

http://magazine.viiphoto.com/feature/show/275/

Interesting GQ Photo/Multimedia on Oil Spill

2010-06-28T12:43:00.001-05:00

BOOM: audio slideshow Big Issues: GQ.com

Summer Reads, Listens, and Watches!

2010-06-21T10:31:00.003-05:00

Suggested Digestion
You need to be inspired in order to get where you are going here are some great tools:

READING

* Zeitoun – by Dave Eggers (textbook required) – Vintage
Since this is the required text, at the least, you should get on Amazon end order it, but start reading it, and you will be ahead of the game! It is a very fast read. So you are prepared, you will be asked to write a reflective essay on the book, so keep notes for your NOLA blog!

Suggested Reading:

Doing Documentary Work – Robert Coles - Oxford University Press

Witness in our Time: Working Lives of Documentary Photographers – Ken Light – Smithsonian Books

The Journey is the Destination - The Journals of Dan Eldon - Dan Elson – Chronicle Books

A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge - Josh Neufeld – Pantheon

The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast - Douglas G. Brinkley – Harper Perrennial

Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City – Jed Horne – Random House

Why New Orleans Matters – Tom Piazza – Harper Perennial

The Ravaging Tide: Strange Weather, Future Katrinas, and the Coming Death of America's Coastal Cities– Mike Tidwell – Free Press

A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams (Play, 1947)

WATCHING
*American Experience: New Orleans – PBS

*When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts – Spike Lee

*The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams’ Appalachia
These are the required films. You may want to watch them in advance of the rush of the quarter. So you are prepared, you will be asked to write a reflective essay on each, so keep notes for your NOLA blog!

Suggested viewing:

Treme – 2010 – HBO Series

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans – 2009

Angel Heart – 1987

All the King’s Men – 2006

The Big Easy – 1987

LISTENING

This American Life - NPR - thislife.org
#296 "After the Flood"

This American Life - NPR - thislife.org
#297 "This is no my Beautiful House"

This American Life - NPR - thislife.org
#372 "The Inauguration Show"

RESCHEDULED! Spend Fall Break in Beautiful New Orleans!

2010-04-06T08:33:00.005-05:00

Registration is now open for the 2010 New Orleans Travel and Study Program at Ai Minnesota.

There are only 12 slots, so register early!** Registration packets with all information are available around the Photography Program rooms, with the AD and Advisor! Plan your Summer schedule around this fun opportunity to help see New Orleans in a new light!

SCHOLARSHIP AVAILABLE! A $500 scholarship will be awarded to one student. See AD for details!

FINANCIAL AID may be used for this course. See your Financial Aid Officer today!

TRIP INCLUDES
A Guided tour of New Orleans; directed and independent field work Daily feedback one-on-one and in critiques; free time to visit museums and galleries, and explore the city; a behind the scenes tour of the photography collection at the Ogden Museum; a visit and critique by Curator of The Louisiana State Museum, Tony Lewis; critiques with other special visiting artists from Louisiana; a behind the scenes visit to the New Orleans Times Picayune, and meeting with some of the Pulitzer Prize winning photography staff at the paper.

Airfare, lodging (quads), breakfasts, some tours, and most in-city transit.

**Registration deadline is June 21st. If we do not have 9 registrants by June 21st, the trip will be canceled and all deposits refunded.

New Orleans Travel & Study Program - June 21-29, 2010

2010-02-04T17:18:00.006-06:00

Photo: ©2009 Micah Kvidt
Registration is now open for the 2010 New Orleans Travel and Study Program at Ai Minnesota.

There are only 12 slots, so register early!** Registration packets with all information are available around the Photography Program rooms, with the AD and Advisor! Plan your Spring schedule around this fun opportunity to help see New Orleans in a new light!

TRIP INCLUDES

A Guided tour of New Orleans; directed and independent field work Daily feedback one-on-one and in critiques; free time to visit museums and galleries, and explore the city; a behind the scenes tour of the photography collection at the Ogden Museum; a visit and critique by Curator of The Louisiana State Museum, Tony Lewis; critiques with other special visiting artists from Louisiana; a behind the scenes visit to the New Orleans Times Picayune, and meeting with some of the Pulitzer Prize winning photography staff at the paper.

Airfare, lodging (quads), breakfasts, some tours, and most in-city transit.

**Registration deadline is March 12. If we do not have 9 registrants by March 12, the trip will be canceled and all deposits refunded.

Summer 2010 Course Announced!

2010-01-15T15:00:00.001-06:00

Get Your Own Book by the Students in the Summer 2009 Program!

2009-09-08T11:20:00.007-05:00

Fresh off the presses, the books by students participating in the Summer 2009 New Orleans Travel and Study Program are now available! Click on the images to preview the books! As I get links from the students, I'll be posting them here.

Don't forget that you can come out on Thursday, September 10th to hear about all of the student projects at 5pm at the Hennepin County Library-Central Branch (Doty Conference Room). After the talks there will be a reception.

Exhibtion Opening Soon!

2009-08-11T16:38:00.003-05:00

Please come out for the festivities--not only is the current class going to present lectures and have an opening at the Hennepin County Library-Central Branch, an alumnus of the program (Keith Cich Wi'09) will be having a two-person exhibition at the Mill City Museum! Details below!

Time Machine: Tuesday, June 30th....The Last Sunrise

2009-07-17T22:22:00.006-05:00

I was out with Lisa and Amanda bright and early to finish up Amanda's block by block documentation of the Mid City neighborhood that is in a tug-o-war between two competing medical interests that wish to level the area to build a new hospital.

After that, I brought them to one of the gems of the St. Roch neighborhood, a strange "venue" --a row of houses actually--called CC Projects. The houses have disintegrated more and more over the last year plus I've been going there. The students know I feel very strongly about not trespassing in people's houses, and don't think that was okay in the photographic wake of Katrina. CC Projects is this eerie constantly changing performative installation, speaking to the flood in different ways by different artists. Having been there three or four times since Winter of 2008, I see the remnants of earlier artists under the newer coats of paint, frenetic drawings, and deteriorating mud covered floors.

The white house piece was so moving to me--so pristine and bold in its commentary on the impossibility of returning home for so many. Perhaps is is more profound as these imploding installations to its left, live in equally stunning skeletons of the same shape--same era--same architecture. All uninviting and funerary to me. I feel bad for my trespasses, even here. I want to get into the white house, but even as our light leaves us on this last sunrise shoot, it's far to early to knock on the door across the street where the owner who holds the key resides.

The last two images are from around St. Roch. Another Banksy found on an out building that leads me to new questions about architecture--the neighborhood is loaded with these ornate Spanish influenced structures, behind main houses. I'm very curious--and surprised that the students continually lead me on paths where I find new faces of a city I feel I know so well.

I can't wait until next Wednesday night--I ran into a couple of our students from the trip this week--between new classes. They all looked clean and well rested--luxuries none of us enjoyed much of in the dripping weather a southern June can deliver--two days the hottest on record in New Orleans. But next Wednesday, we get to remember again, and see wider edits of everyone's work. My favorite time, when we start talking about making books, my old stomping ground.

Time Machine: Monday, June 29

2009-07-17T22:02:00.008-05:00

Here are a few more images of students on the road to Delacroix. Lisa, I believe, may have quite the documentary film on the whole trip:

Here's Lisa documenting Nick....

Time Machine: Saturday, June 27

2009-07-03T18:21:00.004-05:00

Amanda trying to inflate a dolphin by the time we return to the beach with food, in order to gain permanent shotgun status.

Bay St. Louis
On Saturday, after a sunrise shoot in Versailles with Lisa and Peter, we all piled into the cars for a much needed outing to the beach. Stephanie's uncle's family lives in Bay St. Louis, and it seemed like a good idea to see how Katrina affected this Mississippi community. What we saw was a main drag that had very few businesses recovered completely. The stopped in time quality of a sea shell shop, dark, and protected by 6' chain link fencing, was the most overt. It would have been easy, for anyone who did not know what had happened there four years ago, to think it was the economic downturn. The town, where we went, has cleared the rubble of Katrina, where New Orleans is a sad cemetery for thousands of homes. I found myself wondering about the state's efforts--what the heck is happening in Mississippi, that isn't in Louisiana? But then again, Haley Barbour, Governor of the State of Mississippi, managed to get a disproportionate amount of recovery funds for the state. Minus the rubble, this town's business district reminded me of Lakeview and Gentilly only one year after Katrina. Under the leadership of Nick, several of the students prepared a leftover fireman's boiled shrimp scramble.
Everyone was exausted and sunburned by the end of the day but wouldn't give back the experience...maybe the sunburns, but not the experience.

Time Machine

2009-07-03T12:45:00.005-05:00

Finally a breather to post--so these will be chronologically challenged as a I process files...

Monday, June 29th:

After a wonderful morning going way out on the bayou to Delacroix (the so called "end of the road") with Kristyna, we made one last trip to Algier's Point for Nick to photograph a couple last firehouses, and for Lisa to finish up with a taquerilla--capped of course by the consumption of a final quesadilla on the ferry--which I found.

Minnesota college photography students all making pictures of the exact same thing (gator). Good spotting Nick!

I mean "the end of the road". Delacroix is small --there were some houses on very high stilts, the site of a new firehouse, and fishing boats. It's beautiful in its serenity though.

Somebody in Delacroix really likes oysters!

I'm hoping Nick got this guy's name. He and a couple of other men work shrimping and crabbing in Delacroix.

Nearly Homeward Bound

2009-06-30T10:39:00.003-05:00

After nine days of shooting, driving, po' boys, sunburns, fruit loops, shotgun points, thunderstorms, shrimp, safety, taco stands, sunrise, firemen, jazz music, sunsets, bayous, road trips, hot hot heat, levees, alligators, FEMA trailers, street cars.... well, pretty much everything but the snowballs... we are nearly homeward bound.

If you've been following their blogs, you are aware by now that the students have been working extraordinarly hard. Colleen and I are going to have a difficult time curating this show with such tremendous work to choose from. I am so proud of the work these students have done and I am looking forward to reconvening (after what remains of summer break, of course) in Minneapolis.

Please continue to stay tuned to the blog as we will be posting more information about our upcoming presentations and exhibitions happening in September at the Minneapolis Public Library.

In the meantime, Adios/Au revoir Big Easy....and thank you to the fine folks of New Orleans. We hope to see you again soon.

~Becky

Versailles Farmer's Market

2009-06-28T13:59:00.005-05:00

Sometimes sunrise shoots are more difficult if one has over enjoyed the city the night before...

Things are a little out of order, here in the blog, but I'll try to catch up today. Yesterday, one the morning shift I drove Peter out to Versailles for the farmer's market. Apparently the market is very well known, evidenced by the other photographer there on assignment for the illustration of a cookbook.

Lisa tagged along, so after Versailles we could stop at a location for her project on the growth of the Latino community in New Orleans. Lisa and I hung back and let Peter do his thing for a while, but eventually Lisa decided to go try to make a few pictures of her own--there is a very large community of Latinos in Versailles. There's a storefront used as a place of worship, a taco stand, and restaurants.

Day 5: The shooting and driving of Friday, June 26 (until 12pm)

2009-06-28T09:02:00.003-05:00

I was kind of proud of the vast needs covered on Friday. All the way out to a boat graveyard way out Chef Hwy, all the way to the former site of an amusement park on Pontchartrain...and managed to have a student wander into Metarie, but managed a successful extraction before heat stroke ensued.

On Bayou Teche with Donovan Garcia

2009-06-27T09:15:00.001-05:00

Donovan Garcia on Bayou Teche from Becky Olstad on Vimeo.

Um, when was this now?

2009-06-27T07:43:00.005-05:00

At some point in the last few days, the following things occurred (How's that for journalistic-centered specificity?!):

As Colleen mentioned, we rode along with photographers from the Times Picayune. Lisa, Stephanie and I rode along with Jennifer Zdon to a shoot covering the preservation of a 275 year old tree. After returning to the offices, the students had a chance for some one on one feedback with Jennifer and we all got an inside look at Ted Jackson's workflow and editing process. This continues to be one of the best experiences of the trip. The staff at the paper is incredibly generous with their time and knowledge and we can't thank them enough!
Yesterday, (I think!) I went out with Kristyna to Bayou Teche where we met Donovan Garcia who so graciously took us out for 4 hours on the Reserve to show us the environmental impact of the gas and oil industry and provide a first hand look at the importance of the wetland preservation. I'll be posting a video shortly of Donovan sharing some of his insight. In the meantime, a short look at the view from the back of the boat. (You may not want the sound for this one -- it's just wind noise.)

Kristyna on Bayou Teche from Becky Olstad on Vimeo.

I also headed out to St. Amant with Stephanie and at some point after returning to New Orleans I managed to stop being in motion for the first time in 14 hours.

Days 4 and 5 in Pictures

2009-06-27T00:33:00.010-05:00

I drove pretty much from 5:45am until 9:45pm following students and ferrying between different essay projects of eight of the students, and Becky had two different long trips with two different students....so more prose later--we promise!

Firemen, Bayous and Taco Stands - Oh My!

2009-06-25T22:35:00.005-05:00

Safety was the name of the game today as I headed out to drop off, pick up, drop off, pick up and drop off photographers all the way from the Lower 9th Ward to Bayou Sauvage so they could make photographs ranging in subject matter from the rebuilding of communities along the levees to the firemen of St. Bernard Parish, and the importance of the wetland preservation.

The bad news is I made very few photographs today. The good news is the students are making some fantastic work and today they shared their photographs with Tony Lewis, Curator of Visual Arts at the Louisiana State Museums. Be sure to follow the links to the students' blogs for samples of their work and updates from the Big Easy.

Below, Kristyna pulls a Rich Ryan while shooting on the bayou:

Also this afternoon we had a photography tour at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art with Preparator, Richard McCabe, including a private viewing of the museum's prints from photographer Birney Imes.

Tomorrow, it's off to the Bayou at 6am!

Wednesday: Time Picayune and Taquerillas

2009-06-25T22:10:00.008-05:00

Yesterday we went to the Times Picayune for a tour and to meet the photographers. Doug Parker (who rocks, even when on vacation) had set it up for all of the students to get to ride along on assignment with the photographers! I, Amanda, Kristyna, and Nick had the good fortune to tag along with Ted Jackson.

Ted has a surgical methodology, that was a pleasure to watch. The day was topped off with Ted giving all of the students a lesson in his workflow when he comes off assignment. His pictures were staggeringly beautiful, and the quote of the day was from Amanda's lips, "This is waaaaay better than crabs."

In between it all, we had a terrific lunch at a great place somewhere up near Riverbend. Above is Rusty telling this amazng story about being in a zero gravity plane to make pictures. Jennifer Zdon asked hm what his most amazing assignemnt was. Pretty amazing--that--and the day.

Lisa and I set out not long after our return from the paper to a networking event for Latino business owners at a casino in Kenner (suburban New Orleans). She collected some very good leads in the form of business cards, and then we were on our way to a fabulous dinner adventure in Mid-City. We hit a little stretch of restaurants on Carrollton.

We went into a taquerilla that was great...yeah, I had one taco of chorizo and two with barbacoa (barbaqued beef), and I can report that they didn't hold a candle to the taco stand at Tennessee and Claiborne. Hands down. LIsa did a great job of talking to taff and maing pictures.

Hottest Day Ever.

2009-06-25T06:01:00.001-05:00

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/mercury_hits_103_in_new_orlean.html

Morgan City & Barataria Reserve

2009-06-24T09:01:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, Stephanie and I drove west out to Morgan City to meet with Harlan Guillot (yes, a descendant of the inventor of the Guillotine.) Mr. Guillot shared stories from his life in which he has done everything, he said, "except murder someone and skydive." He then directed us to the best Shrimp Po'Boy in town.

After lunch in Morgan City we drove out to Cajun cooking central, the Hot Sauce Shangri-la, Avery Island -- Home of Tobasco.
After returning to sweet New Orleans with my newly purchased gallon of green tobasco, Colleen, Kristyna and I drove out to Barataria Reserve where we saw five alligators, a water snake, and lots and lots of spiders:

So far this morning, it's been off to the 17th Street Canal and the London Canal with Dyer and McGoff and now we're all off to reconnect with our friends over at the Times Picayune. If I get a chance to compress some files -- I'll post some exciting videos shot with the Canon 5D Mark II! The footage is gorgeous!

Day 2: Part 2 - Wait, You want to be where? When?

2009-06-23T23:15:00.006-05:00

I thought I was taking the lion's share of work when, on our last program trip in September, I volunteered to take the long trips with students who had far flung essay projects. Today, I am here to tell you, Becky rocks. There are no two ways about it, the long trip and it's leisurely meanderings to barbershops, nameless "amazing" places with po' boys made by displaced Chicago chefs, and Tabasco gluttony, are a walk in the park compared to the soccer-mom-ery involved in negotiating seven vastly different essay ideas, and their desired locations I experienced today. Okay, well really, we addressed four essays in three trips to the eastern parts of New Orleans, as far flung as Versailles, and as near as Tennessee Street.

After a long day of back and forth, and back, the dynamic duo of Becky and Colleen were reunited to take Krystina out to the Barataria Reserve. It was beautiful, and terrible, and given the interesting people we met, and things we saw, I will save the details for when I can more adequitely descrbe it. here's a preview:

The real treat will be to see the photographic results tomorrow night when we sit down for our first formal critique. We got a sneak peek here and there tonight, but at nine, Becky and I both pushed back our chairs and apologetically set out for a dinner alone.

Also, I ate the best beef tacos ever--and I've eaten at taco stands in Acapulco, Mazatlan, Zihuatenejo, Manzanillo, and P.V. Best tacos, EVER.

Day 2 - Sunrise

2009-06-23T08:21:00.007-05:00

The humidity is so high, we are thinking about swimming instead of driving....the humidity is so high, and it's so hot, that I ran a cup through the air to get hot water to make tea.....the humidity is so high that when a camera has been in dry dry A/C overnight, then taken outside, every surface of the thing instantly becomes dew laden. The humidity is so high that the cameras fogged up in every conceivable place--even though we kept the car cooler low and the windows down. The humidity is so high, that our cameras didn't fully recover until at least a half hour into shooting this morning....

This morning, I was surprised when the elevator door opened on three to reveal Peter. Last night when we had our class meeting, there were a few half-hearted hands up for sunrise shooting from the men's camp. Peter's wasn't one of them. "What?! I woke up at four!" We were soon joined by the Ryans (Dyer an McGoff), Micah, Lisa and Stephanie. We set out for my favorite first-morning shoot destination, Holy Cross. The sunrise was spectacular. And tomorrow we'll have a better strategy for the cameras to capture it! Have I mentioned it's humid?

Say, if you have a strategy for beating the fog of humidity off an A/C chilled camera--comment away--we'll post them!

We're here!

2009-06-22T21:01:00.002-05:00

We're here! It's been a LONG day of traveling and after beginning at the MSP airport at 4 am, we've finally made it to the Big Easy. Today, we had the tour bus to ourselves and for the students that were able to stay awake we had an informative survey of the city.

From the tour we were able to scout a number of prospective locations for our essays and we have a busy busy day planned tomorrow. You can expect updates from Morgan City, Versailles and the Lower 9th Ward plus more.

It's good to be back.

Another Way to View Veracity in the Media

2009-06-18T15:55:00.004-05:00

We spoke at length about Shelby Lee Adams and the film The True Meaning of Pictures. What is true? What does documentary mean? Is labeling something art sufficient to excuse a misrepresentation, or the resulting misinterpretation by the viewer of the photograph? And if your intent is to report, and not imbue your opinion, how to you best direct your neutral eye toward your subject?

I enclose a link from the Huffington Post, an interesting story about another type of skewing of what is meant to be the great, honest voice of the people: The letter to the editor. Click on the image at the bottom of this post.

Now we start the phase of this journey where we become the visual interpreters of a place that experienced one of the worst natural disasters in modern history. Take some time to think again about what your preconceived ideas of the American South really are. What are you expecting from the trip to New Orleans? Write a blog entry this weekend, and jot these thoughts down. See you at 4am Monday!

Speedlite Refresher

2009-06-17T15:16:00.002-05:00

For an excellent refresher on the speedlites, be sure to revisit www.strobist.com.

In particular, there are 2 fantastic posts on balancing your strobes and your ambient light here:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101-balancing-flash-and.html
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101balancing-flash-with.html

Don't forget to check your gear before you leave the cage! You will NOT be able to exchange gear over the weekend before we leave.

People We are Meeting

2009-06-15T10:08:00.003-05:00

I know everyone is in the throws of making appointments and packing, but I wanted to share some information on some of the places we are visiting, or guest critique visitors. Some are photographers with their own books, so if you like their work, you might consider picking up a book for them to sign while they are visiting!

Tony Lewis
Curator of Visual Arts, Louisiana State Museums
http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/
Tony Lewis completed graduate studies in the history of art, with a specialization in nineteenth-century American art, at Northwestern University. He developed an interest in the history of photography during a graduate seminar with Joel Snyder at the University of Chicago. Before joining LSM in January 2007, he served in the education department of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., as Curator of Paintings at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia, as Assistant Director of the Middlebury College Museum of Art, and as an Assistant Professor of Art History and Museum Studies at the University of Southern Mississippi in
Hattiesburg. Dr. Lewis has developed over forty exhibitions, including a traveling exhibition of Herbert Randall’s 1964 Civil Rights photographs and an exhibit of Rudy Burkhardt’s photographs of New York School artists. He recently developing a traveling exhibition at Kennesaw University of Belgian artist Jan Yoors’ photographs of European Roma before WWII and is completing a book on Robert Tebbs’ photographs of Louisiana plantations for the LSU Press.

Thomas Neff
Photographer
http://www.thomasneffphotographer.com/
As a volunteer in the city in the early days after the flood, this Baton Rouge photographer witnessed firsthand the confusion and suffering that was New Orleans as well as the persistence and strength of those who stuck it out.

Neff subsequently spent forty-five days interviewing and photographing the city’s holdouts, and his record is a heartbreaking but compelling look at the true impact of the disaster. At a time when New Orleans residents felt isolated and abandoned, Neff provided the ear that many needed. The friendship he extended enabled him to capture remarkable images and to write sensitive commentaries that approach his subjects from a uniquely personal perspective. Here are Antoinette K-Doe assessing the future of her ruined Mother-in-Law Lounge; Juan Parke, who ferried scores of people to safety in his silver canoe; Ashton O’Dwyer defending his property from looters; Ride Hamilton pausing in his work as a freelance medic. These portraits and dozens more tell the story of the storm through many voices and collectively they tell a story of their own. Other books have documented the wrath of Katrina, but none has captured the human dimension as powerfully as Holding Out and Hanging On. Through these intimate, intense images, readers will meet people from all walks of life who are exhausted by grief and shock but who are determined to hold on to their culture and their city. Neff’s gripping black-and-white images and equally poignant narratives show individuals who are reorganizing their lives, trying to maintain their individuality, and even enriching their souls as they help one another.

Jennifer Shaw
Photographer
http://jennifershaw.net/
Photography is always an act of discovery for me. It’s about the joy of seeing and the mysterious convergence of light, texture and form as translated onto film. A sense of wonder and a reverence for beauty are motivating factors that lead me to document and interpret the world through the camera’s lens. I attempt to create images that transcend literal description, reaching beyond the physical surface of the subject to resonate with viewers on an emotional level.

Most of my work is created using toy cameras. These simple plastic devices lend a whimsical spontaneity to the act of photographing. Although they offer little control in making exposures, their quirks can sometimes result in magic.

I print my black and white images in the darkroom on traditional silver paper, then split-tone them to add depth and color. This toning method can be unpredictable, and like every other part of my process, owes a bit to serendipity. The color work is shot on film, then scanned to make archival pigment prints on Hahnemuhle Rag 308 paper

Ryan McGoff a Facebook Darling

2009-06-11T15:45:00.001-05:00

One of our own got props on George Slade's wall on facebook last week--cool for all!

What Renters Face in New Orleans Now

2009-06-02T12:54:00.001-05:00

Click for details!

Planning and Scheduling for the Right Light

2009-05-20T13:58:00.003-05:00

I know you will all be fully equipped with the latest in Pocket Wizards, Speedlights, stands, umbrellas, etc., but just in case you have an itch for some of the most beautiful light you've ever seen, click here. This is the U.S. Naval Observatory website I discussed in class. Enter the city, and date, and it will tell you exactly when the sun will rise and set. Now for the fun part: Civil twilight (when the light breaking before sunrise) is really when you want to be ready and in the car to your outdoor destinations for nice natural light in the morning....not too long after the sun rises, you lose all those yummy orangy tones. Likewise, at the end of the day, there may still be some usable and beautiful light after sunset....though not for long!

How the Levees Broke

2009-05-15T14:56:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone-
Great brainstorming last night. We are getting closer to some very powerful stories! Since there was a lot of conversation about the levees last night, I thought I'd post a link to a really interesting animation I just found on NOLA.com with Kristyna Nielsen, our newest class member! This is really amazingly detailed. Be sure to note the short timeline in which everything occurred. Truly staggering.

Travel & Study Program Hits the NYC Blogosphere!

2009-05-14T14:26:00.002-05:00

New York photographer and old friend, Sean Justice, covered the NOLA Travel & Study Program today in his blog Considering Pictures! Check it out!

Pre-Course Starts Tonight!

2009-05-07T12:48:00.003-05:00

(page from PDNedu Vol. 7, Issue 2, Fall 2008 about this project)

The pre-trip course for the Summer 2009 New Orleans Travel & Study Program meets for the first time tonight! We'll start off with the short film I made of the Fall 2008 group and talk about multi-media and its role in being a relevant image maker in today's photography community; fine tuning blogs and how we will be using them before during and after the trip; genreating story ideas; and much more!

I'm very excited. But I suppose I always am about this program. I really believe in getting students outside the four walls of the school, and their feet wet in the real world. You all have chosen a path that will have you as deep as the water was shortly after Katrina. Becky and I are both really excited about watching you grow as photographers over the next couple of months!

See you at 6pm in room 321!

83 Days

2009-03-30T12:47:00.005-05:00

About two and a half months from now, the third NOLA Travel & Study Program will embark on a journey of exploration, discovery, and documentation!

As participants in the program, we ask that you do two things here online: Set up your own blog for the program, and set up an account on NOLAstock. The former is not only a great way for you to reflect on your expectations, and reflections, but a really great way to communicate with loved ones while you are away, so they can take this journey with you. The blog is also a course requirement. You will learn more about that when you get the syllabus in the coming weeks leading to our first official class meeting, May 7th. But in the mean time, go to blogger.com and set up an account--you can get all fancy with the titling (see examples already on the right menu bar) or just use your name (like Amanda T. on the right menu bar). Once you have the blog set up, please email it to Colleen Mullins at cmullins@aii.edu or Becky Olstad at rolstad@aii.edu, so one of us can put you up into the right hand menu bar as well! Former program participants are already posted, and can simply continue to use their original blogs.

NOLAstock accounts may be set up by clicking here, and filling out the form. Dig around NOLAstock, and you'll see what it's about--as a funtion of this particular Essay section, there is a focus on the ethics of disaster photography. We created NOLAstock with the help of Chris Teterault (Wi'09) to allow you a safe way to provide royalty free photographs back to any non-profits with which you partner while in New Orleans. Whenever any registered user (you select them) representative of the non-profit goes to the gallery and downloads an image, it will send you an email instantly, notifying you of where when and even how large the image will be published. So you get a great resume line, while helping the people who help you while working on your project!

On this blog--scroll down on the right side to browse all sorts of news items and non-profit organizations that might help you hone in on the right project for you! Only 83 days until we leave!

Registration Now Open for June 22-30 New Orleans Course!

2009-02-02T12:06:00.004-06:00

New Orleans Travel and Study Program III

June 22 - 30, 2009

The trip will include visiting photographers and curators to critiques, museum tours, a whole city tour, behind the scenes tour of the Time Picayune newspaper, and muc much more!

Take Photographic Essays and Visual Narratives (PH3410) in America's rich cultural southern capital, New Orleans! Learn about the culture, history, and fantastic cuisine, that make this amazing city so famous. Work on a project that captures that spirit, in the midst of recovery (almost four years later) from Hurricane Katrina. (Pre req. PH2470 and/or PH3410)

See Colleen Mullins or Michelle Bean for registration forms and tentative itinerary!

Minimum 2.5 GPA to participate in the program. Appeal letters for students falling below that level should accompany registration forms and deposits. Letters should describe the project you plan to undertake while in New Orleans. Deposits will NOT be cashed unless student is approved for entry.

NEW THIS TRIP:

$500 Support Grant**
Applications for the support grant are due
Friday of Week 6 (Friday, February 20) at noon.

Email the following to cmullins @ aii.edu
with "NOLA Scholarship" in the subject line:

1. Letter describing financial need, why you want to study in this program, what ideas you have for an essay project, etc.

2. Five (5) jpgs. No larger than 800 on the longest side. 72ppi. Optimized to srgb profile.

**All Support Grant applications MUST have a CGPA of 2.5 or higher.

The Most Scenic Disaster

2008-12-22T14:23:00.004-06:00

This is a very interesting web piece on OxfordAmerican.com about Katrina as topic on film, and includes some good clips as well as writing.

Join Us!

2008-11-25T13:24:00.005-06:00

Students are busy preparing their exhibition prints and framing, as well as preparing presentation on their projects!

Please join us for student presentations:
Wednesday, December 3rd
8:00-10:00am
Pence Building; Room p-107
(Corner or Hennepin and 8th)

Friday, December 12th
3:00-5pm
Ai Minnesota Gourmet Gallery
(15 South 9th Street)

And of course in addition to the above events the opening reception of the students' exhibition, 1125 Days Later: New Orleans Now, will take place at Traffic Zone Center for Art. See images for details!

When last we blogged...

2008-10-10T08:33:00.003-05:00

I am experiencing an enormous sense of guilt over having not finished the story of our amazing week. I will get to Friday, I promise! ...Here's a preview. My stalwart co-instructor, Becky, befriending her "supper" (lunch).

and Back to Wednesday....

2008-10-05T07:42:00.009-05:00

Amanda H. , Antonio, and a couple of others stayed behind from our early morning shoot in Holy Cross Wednesday to go back to Tennessee Street. Amanda had made a beautiful image of Miss Gertrude's dog, and wanted to give her a print. We got to her house just in the nick of time, because she was heading out for a doctor appointment. She loved the picture and posed for a formal portrait for Amanda. Then we wandered up the street and knocked on Robert Green's door. See the last post for more detail about our visit with him!

Our visit with the Times-Picayune!

2008-10-04T18:12:00.004-05:00

I'm going to start posting more of these in the next couple of days--here's a taste of the incredible generosity of time and access the Times-Picayune afforded us--Audrey and Anthony were on the ride-along with me and photographer Chris Granger:

Yard Sale

2008-10-04T15:03:00.006-05:00

Here is a whirlwind of images from the last few days: In order--Sally shooting early morning; Sally and Amanda T. shooting early morning on Rampart; Dropping a photo off from the 1st travel and study program (by Rich Ryan); Amanda H. interviewing Robert Green in his trailer (Robert will shortly be ground-breaking on a home through the Make It Right Foundation--he was incredibly generous with his time and story. He lost both his mother and granddaughter in Katrina.); Amanda H., Robert Green, and Antonio.

Wednesday Visit with Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographers from the Times-Picayune

2008-10-02T23:04:00.007-05:00

We can't thank the Times-Picayune enough for this amazing experience!

10.02.08

2008-10-02T21:14:00.003-05:00

Jean Gordon Elementary School. Lakeview.

Water Lines.