Heads to 11th International Dixieland festival of Tarragona in Catalonia, Spain
Moments in Time: New Orleans at the Crossroads - Photography Exhibition
Presented by the New Orleans Photo Alliance
Curated by: Owen Murphy, Bryce Lankard and John Glenn
5256 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70115
504-899-8111
At at time when the future of New Orleans is unfolding, in both its vital cultural aspects and even in the physical characteristics that makes this city unique, this exhibition attempts to present a broad portrait of what it means to be New Orleans. Seen through the eyes of 15 local photographers, this collection showcases the city's beauty and its blemishes with an eclectic range of artistic expression.
New Orleans Photo Alliance Mission Statement
The mission of NOPA is to encourage the understanding and appreciation of photography through exhibitions, opportunities, and educational programs for the community of Southern photographers and the general public. NOPA strives to be a cultural stimulus which fosters economic and artistic growth while preserving the rich and diverse photographic culture of New Orleans and the southern region.
“Moments in Time: New Orleans at the Crossroads" will be launched at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts
5256 Magazine Street New Orleans, La. on Saturday January 27, 2007 from 6-8 p.m. and run thru the end of February 2007. It will then travel to the Dixieland Jazz Festival in Tarragona, Spain to open in late March of 2007 and be on display for two months at two venues. One is the large exhibition space at the Tarragona City Hall and the other is at the Metropol, which is the venue for the festivals main concerts. After this plans are in the works to continue exhibiting the exhibition throughout Europe for the rest of the spring and summer 2007 and then toward a tour in the United States in 2008 at universities and other venues.
Photographers in the exhibition include: Shannon Brinkman, Judy Cooper, Steven Forster, L.J. Goldstein, Bryce Lankard, Andy Levin, Owen Murphy, Rick Olivier, Frank Relle, Victoria Ryan, Terrence Sanders, Richard Sexton, Mark Sindler, Michael P. Smith and Jonathan Traviesa
The theme of this exhibit is the cultural identity of New Orleans pre and post Katrina. “What it means to live in New Orleans," if you will. The goal is to showcase not only the city itself but with the the most exceptional photography possible. The work is an artistic documentary style. The exhibition is to show as broad and accurate a portrait of the city as possible, meaning that the photographers venture beyond the tourist facade of the city as well.
About the Artists
Steven Forster:
Steven Forster is a New Orleans native and has been a professional photographer for more than twenty years. His work is in public and private collections, among them the Permanent Historic New Orleans Collection, as well the Permanent Collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Permanent Collection of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Steven has been represented by the Robert Bruno Gallery, John Stinson Fine Arts Gallery, Mario Villa Gallery in New Orleans and Chicago. Steven has also shown in “From The Art of New York", “SweetArt New York", Barbella Gallery, New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, Saenger Theatre, New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, University of New Orleans and Loyola University. His work has been included in exhibitions of master photographers Ansel Adams, Walker Evans, Clarence John Laughlin, and Weegee (Usher Arthur “Weegee" Felig). He has had more than eight thousand photographs published worldwide--for, among others, Paramount Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer, Random House, the A&E Network, People Magazine, Court TV, the Associated Press, Fox Sports, Elle Magazine, TV Guide, Washington Monthly, New Orleans Magazine, Women's Wear Daily, The New York Times and The Washington Post. He was Photo Editor for Roll Call newspaper in Washington, D.C. He is the featured photographer in A Practical Guide For The Emerging Artist, edited by Margaret Lazzari. Forster is now an eight-time Alpha Award winning photographer whose work is featured in his own award-winning newspaper page, the “Big Easy Page" in the Sunday editions of the Times-Picayune And Steven was the last person known to have photographed Ethel Merman.
Terrence Sanders:
My responsibility as an Artist is to challenge the viewer and simultaneously make the artwork visually stimulating. I communicate in a visual language to initiate dialogue between subject and viewer. The aim is to examine the human condition in a way that breaks down social and cultural barriers. I collect materials for my artwork from photo archives on the Internet, Academic Literature and Mass Culture Periodicals. I transform most of the materials into Paintings which reflect the World's turbulent, terrible and beautiful past. I want my artwork to confront and challenge in a provacative manner that provokes the viewer to think more critically. As the viewer assimilates the information, I'm confident they will form their own conclusions. I hope to expose the systematic corruption and abuse inherent in all power structures. My voice is the written word. Power to the People........in god we trust? All subjects were passengers in my Taxi or transients in the street. I wrote the sentiments and poems in my room by candelight in New Orleans during the first 11 days of the aftermath Hurricane Katrina.
L.J. Goldstein:
L.J. Goldstein is a New Orleans based artist who has primarily worked in black and white photography. His photographs were exhibited at the grand opening of the Treme Museum of African-American Art, and are currently on display in City Hall as a part of the permanent collection of the City of New Orleans.His recent one man show, “Is Love Ever Simple The Pursuit of Truth and Beauty in New Orleans," held at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, featured the twenty-eight pictures donated to WWOZ for reproduction in their 2004 wall calendar. L.J. has spent over a decade taking advantage of the freedom that New Orleans offers as a lifestyle, while at the same time trying hard to somehow repay the communities of people that have given him so much.
Owen Murphy:
Owen Murphy Jr. is a freelance photographer, born and raised in New Orleans. After living in New York City and San Francisco, Murphy returned to New Orleans in the 70's to begin his photographic career. He helped create New Orleans' first photographic cooperative, The Photo Exchange, and embarked on a lifetime of exhibiting personal work, teaching, and establishing a professional commercial business. In November of 2006, he was selected to be President of the New Orleans Photo Alliance, created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which is dedicated to promoting the work of the New Orleans photographic community. He is a recipient of a Photography Fellowship from the State of Louisiana, and a grant from the Joe and Dorsett Brown Foundation. His work is in numerous private collections as well as those at the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Louisiana State Museum, the Roger Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the Historic Collection of New Orleans
Mark J. Sindler:
Born and raised in New York, Mark J. Sindler is a documentarian and media arts educator who first came to New Orleans to study anthropology at Tulane University. In 1978, he moved into the Versailles Gardens community of New Orleans East and launched The Vietnamese Documentary Project there. With grant awards from the Louisiana State Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, Sindler spent seven years in Versailles, documenting the growth of one of America's largest enclaves of Vietnamese, as well as recording life in other Vietnamese and Laotian settlements across Louisiana. Images from this project have been shown widely --- most notably in a solo retrospective at the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans and as part of the San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts' traveling exhibit Points of Entry: The History of Immigration Through Photography --- and they are in the permanent collections of the New Orleans Museum of Art, Jean Lafitte National Park, Louisiana State University, and Southeastern Louisiana University.After leaving Versailles, Sindler transitioned to motion media, producing documentaries for the Contemporary Arts Center and Louisiana Public Broadcasting, before accepting a position as first executive director of Cultural Communications, Inc. (CCI). At CCI, he developed and managed two operating divisions --- the Cultural Cable Channel of New Orleans and the Louisiana Center for Cultural Media, produced magazine-format TV series about the arts and heritage of New Orleans, and implemented innovative media literacy/video training programs for local ethnic groups and non-violent prison inmates. These experiences later led to Sindler?s selection by the U. S. State Department to teach television production in Kazakhstan. In 2004, Sindler again turned his attention to photography, joining the Louisiana Office of Tourism?s staff. Traveling throughout the state, he documented the landscape, cultural heritage, and living traditions that make Louisiana unique, and in 2005, he transferred to the Louisiana State Museum, for which he has been chronicling the devastating effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Sindler's Tourism and LSM photos have been featured in the books New Orleans: An Epic City, Stir It Up: A History of Cajun Cuisine, and Katrina Exposed, and they have been published in periodicals including New Orleans Magazine, Louisiana Life, The Times-Picayune, Cultural Vistas, The Miami Herald, and American Heritage. Recent exhibits include The Music Show (The Darkroom/New Orleans? Center for the Photographic Arts), Katrina Exposed (New Orleans Museum of Art), and Vision/Revision: Louisiana Photography 2006 (Contemporary Arts Center).
Frank Relle:
Frank is a photographer from New Orleans. He graduated from Tulane University with degrees in Cognitive Science and Philosophy. Frank found photography on a lake in Maine; he lost it in the bright lights and darkrooms of New York, and rediscovered it in the curving columns of Coliseum Street. Frank?s photographs have won some awards and he hopes they will win some more, because people like awards. The architectural nightscapes pictured here are from Frank's first collection of photographic work. About the images: The New Orleans light series is a collection of images taken during the night.The scenes are lit by a combination of high-pressure sodium, mercury vapor, and daylight balanced hot lights. Shooting long exposures and using these multiple lighting sources creates the distinct color combinations you see.
Bryce Lankard:
Bryce Lankard began pursuing photography seriously while attending the University of North Carolina. Moving to New Orleans in 1987, Lankard contributed award winning work to publications internationally and served as Art Director, Photo Editor and Principal Photographer for a number of other publications, including being the co-founder in 1995 of Tribe Magazine and serving as it's Creative Director. His personal work has been widely exhibited and acclaimed, most recently in New York City in his show “Land of Dreams", a show about, and for the benefit of, New Orleans visual culture.Bryce is one of the co-founders of the New Orleans Photo Alliance.
Rick Olivier:
New Orleans photographer Rick Olivier shoots culture and commerce with heart and soul. He creates arresting images for a prestigious list of magazines, record labels, Fortune 500 companies, and obscure zydeco bands. His book, “Zydeco!" won the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities “Book Of The Year" Award in 2000 and is considered the definitive picture book on the southwest Louisiana Creole dance music scene. His easygoing rapport with celebrities, CEO's and working folks alike, is matched with a fierce determination to produce pictures that tell an eloquent story. ?Rico? is also an accomplished Creole cook whose gumbo and jambalaya will stand next to any in the world, except maybe his mama's. Bon Appetit!
Jonathan Traviesa:
L.J. Goldstein is a New Orleans based artist who has primarily worked in black and white photography. His photographs were exhibited at the grand opening of the Treme Museum of African-American Art, and are currently on display in City Hall as a part of the permanent collection of the City of New Orleans.His recent one man show, “Is Love Ever Simple" The Pursuit of Truth and Beauty in New Orleans,? held at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, featured the twenty-eight pictures donated to WWOZ for reproduction in their 2004 wall calendar. L.J. has spent over a decade taking advantage of the freedom that New Orleans offers as a lifestyle, while at the same time trying hard to somehow repay the communities of people that have given him so much.
Michael P. Smith:
Michael P. Smith was born in 1937. He resides in New Orleans, LA. He is often considered to be New Orleans preeminent Cultural documentarian. Michael P. Smith's work has been presented in the Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. “The camera is an extension of my knowledge of the inner workings of the community that I have come to understand over a twenty-five year period. It's my art, my subjective view of the world I'm experiencing."
Judy Cooper:
Man is a social animal. On a global level, we call it civilisation. On a local level, in every city and town, pople come ogether in groups, large and small, to participate in activities that are serious or light hearted. In New Orleans, there are a number of clubs in the African American community who call themselves “Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs." On the serious side, they provide support to friends and neighbors who are in need, but on the light hearted side, each club stagesan annual parade through the neighborhoods in which they live. They dress in very colorful matching outfits and dance throught the streets behind a marching brass band. The whole neighborhood follows along behind them. These “second line" parades, as they are also called, always take place on Sundy afternoon, after church. Most of the modest neighborhoods where these parades take place have churches on almost every block. On Sunday morning, the churches are filled with worshippers. Fellowship plays a major role in their church experience. Throughout the year, there are many Sundays that are singled out as special days of celebration. On those days, the committee members who helped organize the event, dress up in colorful, matching outfits to reflect the communal and celebratory nature of their participation.This series of photographs investigates the cultural traditions of gatherings where people dress up in colorful and/or similar fashion to demonstrate their celebration of togetherness.
Shannon Brinkman:
Intimate. Creative. Secret spaces. Exotic in perhaps a dirty sort of way, I mean some people think hygiene is for the suburbs. I smell sometimes. Huge gap between ones with and ones without. Friendly across this gap- it is easy to know the rich and the poor and everyone in between. Violent, I have been shot before don't ask where. Embrace the mystery--It might be a ghost, don't be scared. So flat I can ride my bike all over (in costume)(with camera). Below sea level and now the world knows too. Creole cottages are what we live in, what we sometimes party in. We are free to be ourselves--So people blossom unlike any other city in America. Bars open all night. So much live music on Frenchman street. Any night can be a great night out. Many friends are bartenders, strippers, musicians, or do restaurant bike delivery. An international destination: But if you land in the Apple Barrel or Abby late night you know daylight is just around the corner and you are probably tripping. Mardi gras is one of the biggest parties in the world. Good men are hard to find sober. Women rock in New Orleans ?we love and support each other here.
Also, I have won many awards for the early New Orleans series including the Photographer's Forum International contest for black and white with over 24,000 entries.
Andy Levin:
A former contributing photographer at Life Magazine, Andy Levin began his career as a staff photographer for the Black Star agency in 1980, where he completed contract assignments for magazines including National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, and Fortune. In 1983 Levin's photo essay for Life won first place in the prestigious National Press Photographers Association Contest. His personal black and white work on Coney Island has been published in Reportage and Graphis as well as both Life and Popular Photography. A participant in over fifteen Day in the Life book projects, A Day in the Life of America brought him to New Orleans where he photographed the Charity Hospital Emergency Room. In 2004 Levin moved to Big Easy to document and participate in the cities rich culture “I was drawn to New Orleans by its unique culture. I wanted to photograph the secondline parades and the shot gun houses, and the unique bohemian characters of the French Quarters. After living there for a little more than a year Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and I found myself in the story of a lifetime. Unfortunately, the story was of the great losses that were suffered by my neighbors and friends."
Richard Sexton:
Richard Sexton is noted for his meticulously-composed photographs of the built environment and for his detailed photo essays that focus on the subjects of architecture, design, lifestyle, urbanism, and community. Typically his photo essays are published in book form and are accompanied by written essays.In 1991, Sexton moved from San Francisco to New Orleans. Prior to his arrival in New Orleans, he had already contracted with Chronicle to create a book about his new place of residence. The concept centered on an ambitious photo essay interpreting a city that many famous artists and writers had left their mark on well before him. Randolph Delehanty agreed to collaborate on the project, writing an introduction and extended captions to Sexton?s photographs. Neither author had any substantial experience or expertise regarding New Orleans prior to this undertaking. The book, New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence, published in 1993, was met with broad acclaim. Susan Larson, the Times-Picayunes' book reviewer, gave it her “best of the year" award and Dr. Patricia Brady, director of publications for The Historic New Orleans Collection, called it “the best photographic book ever done on the city."
Victoria Ryan:
Victoria Ryan is the Director of the Photography Program at the New Orleans Academy for the Fine Arts.
Moments in Time: New Orleans at the Crossroads - Photography Exhibition
Presented by the New Orleans Photo Alliance
Curated by: Owen Murphy, Bryce Lankard and John Glenn
5256 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70115
504-899-8111
At at time when the future of New Orleans is unfolding, in both its vital cultural aspects and even in the physical characteristics that makes this city unique, this exhibition attempts to present a broad portrait of what it means to be New Orleans. Seen through the eyes of 15 local photographers, this collection showcases the city's beauty and its blemishes with an eclectic range of artistic expression.
New Orleans Photo Alliance Mission Statement
The mission of NOPA is to encourage the understanding and appreciation of photography through exhibitions, opportunities, and educational programs for the community of Southern photographers and the general public. NOPA strives to be a cultural stimulus which fosters economic and artistic growth while preserving the rich and diverse photographic culture of New Orleans and the southern region.
“Moments in Time: New Orleans at the Crossroads" will be launched at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts
5256 Magazine Street New Orleans, La. on Saturday January 27, 2007 from 6-8 p.m. and run thru the end of February 2007. It will then travel to the Dixieland Jazz Festival in Tarragona, Spain to open in late March of 2007 and be on display for two months at two venues. One is the large exhibition space at the Tarragona City Hall and the other is at the Metropol, which is the venue for the festivals main concerts. After this plans are in the works to continue exhibiting the exhibition throughout Europe for the rest of the spring and summer 2007 and then toward a tour in the United States in 2008 at universities and other venues.
Photographers in the exhibition include: Shannon Brinkman, Judy Cooper, Steven Forster, L.J. Goldstein, Bryce Lankard, Andy Levin, Owen Murphy, Rick Olivier, Frank Relle, Victoria Ryan, Terrence Sanders, Richard Sexton, Mark Sindler, Michael P. Smith and Jonathan Traviesa
The theme of this exhibit is the cultural identity of New Orleans pre and post Katrina. “What it means to live in New Orleans," if you will. The goal is to showcase not only the city itself but with the the most exceptional photography possible. The work is an artistic documentary style. The exhibition is to show as broad and accurate a portrait of the city as possible, meaning that the photographers venture beyond the tourist facade of the city as well.
About the Artists
Steven Forster:
Steven Forster is a New Orleans native and has been a professional photographer for more than twenty years. His work is in public and private collections, among them the Permanent Historic New Orleans Collection, as well the Permanent Collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Permanent Collection of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Steven has been represented by the Robert Bruno Gallery, John Stinson Fine Arts Gallery, Mario Villa Gallery in New Orleans and Chicago. Steven has also shown in “From The Art of New York", “SweetArt New York", Barbella Gallery, New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, Saenger Theatre, New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, University of New Orleans and Loyola University. His work has been included in exhibitions of master photographers Ansel Adams, Walker Evans, Clarence John Laughlin, and Weegee (Usher Arthur “Weegee" Felig). He has had more than eight thousand photographs published worldwide--for, among others, Paramount Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer, Random House, the A&E Network, People Magazine, Court TV, the Associated Press, Fox Sports, Elle Magazine, TV Guide, Washington Monthly, New Orleans Magazine, Women's Wear Daily, The New York Times and The Washington Post. He was Photo Editor for Roll Call newspaper in Washington, D.C. He is the featured photographer in A Practical Guide For The Emerging Artist, edited by Margaret Lazzari. Forster is now an eight-time Alpha Award winning photographer whose work is featured in his own award-winning newspaper page, the “Big Easy Page" in the Sunday editions of the Times-Picayune And Steven was the last person known to have photographed Ethel Merman.
Terrence Sanders:
My responsibility as an Artist is to challenge the viewer and simultaneously make the artwork visually stimulating. I communicate in a visual language to initiate dialogue between subject and viewer. The aim is to examine the human condition in a way that breaks down social and cultural barriers. I collect materials for my artwork from photo archives on the Internet, Academic Literature and Mass Culture Periodicals. I transform most of the materials into Paintings which reflect the World's turbulent, terrible and beautiful past. I want my artwork to confront and challenge in a provacative manner that provokes the viewer to think more critically. As the viewer assimilates the information, I'm confident they will form their own conclusions. I hope to expose the systematic corruption and abuse inherent in all power structures. My voice is the written word. Power to the People........in god we trust? All subjects were passengers in my Taxi or transients in the street. I wrote the sentiments and poems in my room by candelight in New Orleans during the first 11 days of the aftermath Hurricane Katrina.
L.J. Goldstein:
L.J. Goldstein is a New Orleans based artist who has primarily worked in black and white photography. His photographs were exhibited at the grand opening of the Treme Museum of African-American Art, and are currently on display in City Hall as a part of the permanent collection of the City of New Orleans.His recent one man show, “Is Love Ever Simple The Pursuit of Truth and Beauty in New Orleans," held at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, featured the twenty-eight pictures donated to WWOZ for reproduction in their 2004 wall calendar. L.J. has spent over a decade taking advantage of the freedom that New Orleans offers as a lifestyle, while at the same time trying hard to somehow repay the communities of people that have given him so much.
Owen Murphy:
Owen Murphy Jr. is a freelance photographer, born and raised in New Orleans. After living in New York City and San Francisco, Murphy returned to New Orleans in the 70's to begin his photographic career. He helped create New Orleans' first photographic cooperative, The Photo Exchange, and embarked on a lifetime of exhibiting personal work, teaching, and establishing a professional commercial business. In November of 2006, he was selected to be President of the New Orleans Photo Alliance, created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which is dedicated to promoting the work of the New Orleans photographic community. He is a recipient of a Photography Fellowship from the State of Louisiana, and a grant from the Joe and Dorsett Brown Foundation. His work is in numerous private collections as well as those at the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Louisiana State Museum, the Roger Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the Historic Collection of New Orleans
Mark J. Sindler:
Born and raised in New York, Mark J. Sindler is a documentarian and media arts educator who first came to New Orleans to study anthropology at Tulane University. In 1978, he moved into the Versailles Gardens community of New Orleans East and launched The Vietnamese Documentary Project there. With grant awards from the Louisiana State Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, Sindler spent seven years in Versailles, documenting the growth of one of America's largest enclaves of Vietnamese, as well as recording life in other Vietnamese and Laotian settlements across Louisiana. Images from this project have been shown widely --- most notably in a solo retrospective at the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans and as part of the San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts' traveling exhibit Points of Entry: The History of Immigration Through Photography --- and they are in the permanent collections of the New Orleans Museum of Art, Jean Lafitte National Park, Louisiana State University, and Southeastern Louisiana University.After leaving Versailles, Sindler transitioned to motion media, producing documentaries for the Contemporary Arts Center and Louisiana Public Broadcasting, before accepting a position as first executive director of Cultural Communications, Inc. (CCI). At CCI, he developed and managed two operating divisions --- the Cultural Cable Channel of New Orleans and the Louisiana Center for Cultural Media, produced magazine-format TV series about the arts and heritage of New Orleans, and implemented innovative media literacy/video training programs for local ethnic groups and non-violent prison inmates. These experiences later led to Sindler?s selection by the U. S. State Department to teach television production in Kazakhstan. In 2004, Sindler again turned his attention to photography, joining the Louisiana Office of Tourism?s staff. Traveling throughout the state, he documented the landscape, cultural heritage, and living traditions that make Louisiana unique, and in 2005, he transferred to the Louisiana State Museum, for which he has been chronicling the devastating effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Sindler's Tourism and LSM photos have been featured in the books New Orleans: An Epic City, Stir It Up: A History of Cajun Cuisine, and Katrina Exposed, and they have been published in periodicals including New Orleans Magazine, Louisiana Life, The Times-Picayune, Cultural Vistas, The Miami Herald, and American Heritage. Recent exhibits include The Music Show (The Darkroom/New Orleans? Center for the Photographic Arts), Katrina Exposed (New Orleans Museum of Art), and Vision/Revision: Louisiana Photography 2006 (Contemporary Arts Center).
Frank Relle:
Frank is a photographer from New Orleans. He graduated from Tulane University with degrees in Cognitive Science and Philosophy. Frank found photography on a lake in Maine; he lost it in the bright lights and darkrooms of New York, and rediscovered it in the curving columns of Coliseum Street. Frank?s photographs have won some awards and he hopes they will win some more, because people like awards. The architectural nightscapes pictured here are from Frank's first collection of photographic work. About the images: The New Orleans light series is a collection of images taken during the night.The scenes are lit by a combination of high-pressure sodium, mercury vapor, and daylight balanced hot lights. Shooting long exposures and using these multiple lighting sources creates the distinct color combinations you see.
Bryce Lankard:
Bryce Lankard began pursuing photography seriously while attending the University of North Carolina. Moving to New Orleans in 1987, Lankard contributed award winning work to publications internationally and served as Art Director, Photo Editor and Principal Photographer for a number of other publications, including being the co-founder in 1995 of Tribe Magazine and serving as it's Creative Director. His personal work has been widely exhibited and acclaimed, most recently in New York City in his show “Land of Dreams", a show about, and for the benefit of, New Orleans visual culture.Bryce is one of the co-founders of the New Orleans Photo Alliance.
Rick Olivier:
New Orleans photographer Rick Olivier shoots culture and commerce with heart and soul. He creates arresting images for a prestigious list of magazines, record labels, Fortune 500 companies, and obscure zydeco bands. His book, “Zydeco!" won the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities “Book Of The Year" Award in 2000 and is considered the definitive picture book on the southwest Louisiana Creole dance music scene. His easygoing rapport with celebrities, CEO's and working folks alike, is matched with a fierce determination to produce pictures that tell an eloquent story. ?Rico? is also an accomplished Creole cook whose gumbo and jambalaya will stand next to any in the world, except maybe his mama's. Bon Appetit!
Jonathan Traviesa:
L.J. Goldstein is a New Orleans based artist who has primarily worked in black and white photography. His photographs were exhibited at the grand opening of the Treme Museum of African-American Art, and are currently on display in City Hall as a part of the permanent collection of the City of New Orleans.His recent one man show, “Is Love Ever Simple" The Pursuit of Truth and Beauty in New Orleans,? held at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, featured the twenty-eight pictures donated to WWOZ for reproduction in their 2004 wall calendar. L.J. has spent over a decade taking advantage of the freedom that New Orleans offers as a lifestyle, while at the same time trying hard to somehow repay the communities of people that have given him so much.
Michael P. Smith:
Michael P. Smith was born in 1937. He resides in New Orleans, LA. He is often considered to be New Orleans preeminent Cultural documentarian. Michael P. Smith's work has been presented in the Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. “The camera is an extension of my knowledge of the inner workings of the community that I have come to understand over a twenty-five year period. It's my art, my subjective view of the world I'm experiencing."
Judy Cooper:
Man is a social animal. On a global level, we call it civilisation. On a local level, in every city and town, pople come ogether in groups, large and small, to participate in activities that are serious or light hearted. In New Orleans, there are a number of clubs in the African American community who call themselves “Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs." On the serious side, they provide support to friends and neighbors who are in need, but on the light hearted side, each club stagesan annual parade through the neighborhoods in which they live. They dress in very colorful matching outfits and dance throught the streets behind a marching brass band. The whole neighborhood follows along behind them. These “second line" parades, as they are also called, always take place on Sundy afternoon, after church. Most of the modest neighborhoods where these parades take place have churches on almost every block. On Sunday morning, the churches are filled with worshippers. Fellowship plays a major role in their church experience. Throughout the year, there are many Sundays that are singled out as special days of celebration. On those days, the committee members who helped organize the event, dress up in colorful, matching outfits to reflect the communal and celebratory nature of their participation.This series of photographs investigates the cultural traditions of gatherings where people dress up in colorful and/or similar fashion to demonstrate their celebration of togetherness.
Shannon Brinkman:
Intimate. Creative. Secret spaces. Exotic in perhaps a dirty sort of way, I mean some people think hygiene is for the suburbs. I smell sometimes. Huge gap between ones with and ones without. Friendly across this gap- it is easy to know the rich and the poor and everyone in between. Violent, I have been shot before don't ask where. Embrace the mystery--It might be a ghost, don't be scared. So flat I can ride my bike all over (in costume)(with camera). Below sea level and now the world knows too. Creole cottages are what we live in, what we sometimes party in. We are free to be ourselves--So people blossom unlike any other city in America. Bars open all night. So much live music on Frenchman street. Any night can be a great night out. Many friends are bartenders, strippers, musicians, or do restaurant bike delivery. An international destination: But if you land in the Apple Barrel or Abby late night you know daylight is just around the corner and you are probably tripping. Mardi gras is one of the biggest parties in the world. Good men are hard to find sober. Women rock in New Orleans ?we love and support each other here.
Also, I have won many awards for the early New Orleans series including the Photographer's Forum International contest for black and white with over 24,000 entries.
Andy Levin:
A former contributing photographer at Life Magazine, Andy Levin began his career as a staff photographer for the Black Star agency in 1980, where he completed contract assignments for magazines including National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, and Fortune. In 1983 Levin's photo essay for Life won first place in the prestigious National Press Photographers Association Contest. His personal black and white work on Coney Island has been published in Reportage and Graphis as well as both Life and Popular Photography. A participant in over fifteen Day in the Life book projects, A Day in the Life of America brought him to New Orleans where he photographed the Charity Hospital Emergency Room. In 2004 Levin moved to Big Easy to document and participate in the cities rich culture “I was drawn to New Orleans by its unique culture. I wanted to photograph the secondline parades and the shot gun houses, and the unique bohemian characters of the French Quarters. After living there for a little more than a year Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and I found myself in the story of a lifetime. Unfortunately, the story was of the great losses that were suffered by my neighbors and friends."
Richard Sexton:
Richard Sexton is noted for his meticulously-composed photographs of the built environment and for his detailed photo essays that focus on the subjects of architecture, design, lifestyle, urbanism, and community. Typically his photo essays are published in book form and are accompanied by written essays.In 1991, Sexton moved from San Francisco to New Orleans. Prior to his arrival in New Orleans, he had already contracted with Chronicle to create a book about his new place of residence. The concept centered on an ambitious photo essay interpreting a city that many famous artists and writers had left their mark on well before him. Randolph Delehanty agreed to collaborate on the project, writing an introduction and extended captions to Sexton?s photographs. Neither author had any substantial experience or expertise regarding New Orleans prior to this undertaking. The book, New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence, published in 1993, was met with broad acclaim. Susan Larson, the Times-Picayunes' book reviewer, gave it her “best of the year" award and Dr. Patricia Brady, director of publications for The Historic New Orleans Collection, called it “the best photographic book ever done on the city."
Victoria Ryan:
Victoria Ryan is the Director of the Photography Program at the New Orleans Academy for the Fine Arts.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
