I’m not sure I could ever get bored of photographing the streets of New Orleans. I was visiting the south working with the nonprofit organization the Kingsley House and because of the amazing access they granted me I had very little time to do my own wandering. However, during the few trips I made to the French Quarter and just exploring the Garden District neighborhood I was completely blown away with how many things I stumbled upon to capture.
New Orleans is a place of contrasts. From the music, to the street performers, to the people, this is definitely not a one note city. I found a sullen mocha skinned girl wearing fuchsia lipstick, an old cowboy with kind blue eyes, a tiny boy listening to music outside the Hustler store and some teenage girls joyfully swinging around a lost weave after a fight broke out in the streets. One of my favorite moments I captured is of a mustached maitre d, wearing a tux and a disapproving look ,watching some street kids with tin cans tied to their shoes tap dance outside his restaurant.
I said it in my last post and I’ll say it again, the people in New Orleans are some of the friendliest in the world and I loved how utterly unfazed they were by my camera. I don’t know many places on this earth that I could walk down the street, come across a scruffy looking man smoking a cigarette holding a tiny white dog tucked in his coat, stop to ask him if I could take his photo and he happily obliges. I also don’t know many places who will stay open during a blackout, with the band continuing to jam to a packed room, into the wee hours of the night. The energy and the people in this city are rare and beautiful.
