Surmount, New Orleans (2009)
13″ x 13″
Edition, 1 of 1 (Signed + Numbered)
Archival pigment inks on Ultra Premium Luster archival paper
$40.00 (shipped) – SOLD (thank you Nico Brooks)

There’s a couple reasons I was inspired to release this print today. The obvious is in celebration of the Super Bowl win for the New Orleans Saints. The city as a whole has been an underdog, fighting for the top ever since Hurricane Katrina. This win is just further proof, hope, and inspiration towards showing the battle this city has endured to get back up.

I was inspired to visit New Orleans last year after watching the documentary “Trouble the Water” which chronicles a family, filmed from a survivalist perspective on a handycam, through the days prior to the storm, during the storm as they congregate in the attic, and the weeks after.

They lived in the Lower 9th Ward which was one of the most ravaged sections as part of the levy broke mere blocks from the houses. It was moving to witness the devastation + survival (and lack thereof) through a first hand account from a community that didn’t have the means to evacuate.

I made a trip to New Orleans this past summer to create a body of work and document the condition of the Lower 9th Ward, four years after the storm. I was surprised at how desolate and unrepaired it still was. Houses were leaning and off foundations, fences were mangled, yards overgrown, and spray paint still littered their facades. As the rescue crews performed sweeps of the houses in the days and weeks after the storm, they spray painted a large X on the front of the houses. Within each quadrant of the X was a number or code that related to what they found or didn’t find in the house. Humans or pets, alive or dead.

It seemed that most of the houses were abandoned and many of the owners hadn’t returned yet (and may never again). A small portion were in the process of renovation but even the occupied homes and apartments, with its residents sitting on the porch or stoop, still hadn’t repainted and the spray paint from the rescue efforts was still very evident.

I captured this photo while walking down Douglas at the corner of Forstall Street (map). There’s a small banked incline that separates the community from the Mississippi River and a walking/bike trail parallels the river with benches every few hundred feet with great views looking into the skyscrapers of downtown. I looked up and saw this family; seemingly a man, wife, and child whom is hugging onto his leg near one of the benches along the trail. His arms were outstretched. In cheer, in victory, to say I’m alive? I thought it a perfect representation, on such a bright, sunny, and beautiful day to interpret the idea that even in the darkest and dire of situations, the light will rise again and live on. This is the very perseverance that’s instilled in the earth and in us all.

See a Large Version of the Print Here

[Print Details: I’ve decided that on unbooked days throughout the year (although I’d love for them all to get bookings) I am going to offer Limited Edition prints from my personal work and collections. Each print will cost what ever the price of the unbooked day is. Therefore, today’s print is $40 (shipped). The print will remain for sale throughout the year until sold.

This is the only print that will ever be released of this photo, signed and numbered 1 of 1, with one Artists Proof to be kept for myself. This release is printed with archival pigment inks on 5 Star Ultra Premium Luster archival paper and the approximate size is 13″ x 13″.]