A Matter of Faith

In 2005 I first photographed the aftermath of Hurricane

Katrina in New Orleans arriving 30 days after the storm passed and while the city

was still officially closed. As part of a 5-portfolio effort, I photographed 42 houses of

worship/churches in the Lower 9th ward of New Orleans. My end goal was to rephotograph

these locations after they had rebuilt. In the first year I photographed

the ruined churches and kept detailed records of locations and information on the

congregations. I revisited many of the sites as the buildings were gutted, and in

some cased rebuilt. Sadly, many of these sites were also demolished or remain

gutted, waiting rebuilding. This is work that is invaluable in the sense those images

can no longer be made. Over time I have revisited many of the sites, and in some

cases documented the rebuilding efforts. I met one pastor who was in the process of

demolition and asked him, “Pastor, no one lives here any more, do you think people

will really return?”, his answer to me, “No one will return unless their church is

there for them, its a matter of faith that I do this”. I knew at that point that I must

continue and see where this project took me and honor the hard work men like that

were devoted to. As of last year, 14 of the churches have rebuilt. Two more are

under construction. My goal of this project is to re-photograph all 42 sites and visit

all the rebuilt churches and photograph the congregations within the next year. I

have begun this project and have to date photographed four services. As the

window to photograph these congregations is limited to Wednesday and Sunday, I

will need to schedule a minimum of 8 visits to New Orleans to finish this project.

Additional budget items are for the printing, and preparation of the portfolio for

exhibition. With the passing of the 10th anniversary of Katrina this part of New

Orleans is still rebuilding and in flux. This portfolio will support the efforts of these

religious institutions and the efforts of the city in this continuing process.

I have a long time relationship with New Orleans. I first visited the city in 1984 and

have lived there during two previous sabbatical leaves. My work there includes a

recent project “25 years of Mardi Gras in New Orleans” where this work can be

found in the collections of the Ogden Museum of Art, New Orleans; the New Orleans

Museum of Art; the Historic New Orleans Collection and the Mississippi Sate

Museum to name a few. Work from my post Katrina photography can be found in

the collection of he Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans; the Kresge Museum in

Michigan; The Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, and the Joslyn

Museum, Omaha to name a few that have in excess of 15 images each in their

collections.