ARTIST STATEMENT

In the mid-1970's, I moved to New Orleans and dedicated myself to photographing the unique culture I found there. The Great leap forward in my work began in 1976, when I began ten years of study with photography's great master of color – Ernst Haas. In formal and informal settings around the U.S., Haas evaluated my working methods, style and critical judgment while helping me shape the emerging body of my New Orleans imagery into an aesthetic and documentary whole. The culmination of this long, intensive apprenticeship came when Haas made visit to my studio and photographed New Orleans Carnival with me.

For the past 30 years, my photography has recorded New Orleans Carnival, musical and spiritual traditions. I have witnessed every fact of New Orleans annual Mardi Gras Celebrations, including the customs and rituals of the black Mardi Gras Indians. Seeking the roots of and counterparts to New Orleans, spiritual celebration, I have examined Haitian Rituals on extended visits to the Caribbean. I have found other threads of this tradition in the animals/Christian ceremonies of New Orleans spiritualist churches. For many years, I have joined the horseback enactment of "Courir Du Mardi Gras" in Southern Louisiana's Cajun country. I have followed New Orleans music from the hometown Jazz and Heritage Festival to European festivals, photographing major figures in performance and in their homes. In every case, I have been persistent in isolating the most telling scenes and practitioners of these traditions.