Too busy!

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....

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

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

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

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

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

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