Tupelo Street

Tupelo Street runs perpendicular to St. Claude. It's an arterial with a green medial that looks like it had some nice houses and businesses on it. There's people moving back and pouring slabs here and there. There's a trailer on one corner and then there's the houses that they are taking apart to salvage the components: brinks, lumber, fence posts. If it ain't going up it's busy coming down. This is Tyrone. He's rebuilding and has all the pictures of his house as it came down and now he's getting ready to put up 8 ft columns to keep this one from floating away next time the Gulf water's misbehave in his direction.

Charity Hospital

Five years post Katrina, Charity Hospital remains closed. There are lots of folks who want to see it reopen. Here is a youtube to Save Charity Hospital.com link to explain some of the issues. And here is the link to the Save Charity Hospital Organization that made it.

Here are some pictures of what the site looks like now:

Back in New Orleans

I'm back in New Orleans now and spent my first full day out looking for the people I photographed. I found some and started giving back the photos I took. And, of course, one things leads to another. Before I knew it I was taking more. The highlights of the day were a driving tour with Allen Kimball who took me through parts of the lower 9th and showed me places like Fats Domino's house, and then the Treme. He introduced me to Sandos (not Santos) who goes by the name Sam, a former Marine in Veitnam who told the story of his house being hit by the wall of water when the levee broke. He was caught in the attick and part of his face was torn off.  With his his mouth and his hands he said, " I'll never forget those two nail."

I also met with Joseph (not Joe) Peters at St. Claude Tire. I got the official poster from the joint and I have a date to go back and take more pictures of him and the people who work and spend time there. And I made a date with Jermica, the girl who went out shooting with me in April, to go back out in the Lower 9th and take more. I'm going to keep plenty busy. I need a recipe for making time multiply like rabbits. Any suggestions other than black magic?

Jesus, Joseph and Mary: What Remains, is Left Behind, Preserved, Still Standing

Dancing on the Second Line

If music and dance are what makes your life worth living, New Orleans, even after the flood is where you might belong. Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs have a long history in New Orleans and the second lines that go on today are part of that long history of mutual aid with an eye towards enjoying what of your life is left to be lived. There's plenty to eat and drink and the dancing knows no bounds. People jump up on the porches of houses along the way, take new partners at every chance and just keep on going.  The NOPD comes along for the ride but seems to take a liberal stance with respect to what goes on so long as everyone stays in the line, more or less.

Tire Shop Music

St Claude Tire has a diverse repertoire, and tenacity.  Now you can get some music to go along with your memories of the place. Check out this link to King Lee with Quintron and get a little audio input to go along with whatever else you might find there. If you are lucky something on this grill, which like a lot of what's  on this corner, was made here.

Preparing for the Next Trip

I'm looking back over photographs from the last trip and wondering what it will be like walking around in the heat. I'm eager to go back and looking forward to meeting with the people I met and making some new connections with organizations that I might work with in the future.

Here are more pictures of what remains: old wrought iron, the absent house, the new canal wall that we hope will stand up above and below ground.