Madonna De Luz
You have probably heard every photographer you know say:
If I could only capture what I see.
This is a story about God giving me a photo where I captured more than I saw!!
The night of the Krewe du Vieux parade I took this photo in the yard of the deconsecrated Holy Trinity Church on the corner of St. Ferdinand Street and Dauphine Street in Bywater that is now an art and performance space called the Marigny Opera House.
While looking for a parking space near the KdV after party, I drove by an event going on in the church yard. It was ethereal and mesmerizing because they had projected blue lights over the normally drab grounds.
After parking, I was on my way back up Dauphine to catch the beginning of the parade and by then the yard was empty so I stopped to take a few photos. I later found out that the yard had been decorated for a wedding and the wedding party was inside for the ceremony by the time I got back to the church. It was amazingly beautiful because they had placed lots of candles and a smoke machine at the bottom of the larger than life statue of the Virgin Mary.
When viewing my photos the next day, I was amazed to find what had not been seen at the time of taking the photo because the blue light reflecting through the smoke surrounding the Virgin Mary statue turned into a luminous turquoise blue yet the blue light intermingled with the warm yellow lights of the candles had turned the billowing smoke purple. The hues and intense saturation of the colors are fabulous.
God gave me this extraordinary photo!!
Allen Toussaint (piano) John Cleary (guitar)
Fats Domino 80th Birthday at Tipitina's.
Big Chief Howard Miller of the Creole Wild West
President of the Mardi Gras Indian Council
Uptown Super Sunday March 19, 2017.
Moonwalk Serenade
For many New Orleanians the Mardi Gras celebration begins by gathering with friends of the Secret Society of Saint Anne, followed by parading through the French Quarter with the Storyville Stompers Band et al, stopping at Canal Street to watch the Rex Parade then strutting, prancing and dancing back into the quarter culminating at the Moonwalk with some members throwing ashes of their beloveds into the Mississippi River.
The Emperor in his Realm
Panorama Jazz Band Carnivalizing
Sovereign Sultantress
This is my favorite Photoshop creation where I combined three images taken in Morocco. The main photo is a 15th century mosque. I added a jewelry design known as the southern cross with notches based on stages of the moon matched to the Southern Cross constellation which is used as a compass by the twarigs to navigate the desert in the Western Hemisphere. Then I added a glow around a photo of my hands artistically covered with middle eastern henna designs. In India, this art form is knows as mahendi. In Morocco, the role of Henna transcends that of beauty. In harmony with the Berber‘s belief in Baraka (good luck), henna worn on the body offers protection against illness, the evil eye and brings joy. Even before going to Marrakech to find a hotel, my first stop in Morocco was a Berber Village called Asni where I instantly met brothers who invited us to their home for dinner as our adventures began. We had rented a car in Casablanca which enabled them to take us on day trips to explore many places in their region ... amazing walnut groves ... the highest point in their country to see a water fall .... to what seemed to be wilderness to find this abandoned mosque in this photo many hours from their village.
Saint John's Eve Ceremony
St John's Eve ceremony on the Magnolia Bridge over Bayou St. John with Tibetan prayer flags traditionally hung to inspire compassion, strength, peace and wisdom in honoring His Holiness the Dalai Lama's visit to New Orleans May, 2013.
Big Chief Howard Miller of the Creole Wild West, 2010
Masqueriders
Fats Domino
In the 20th century, Antoine "Fats" Domino Jr. is right up there with Louis Armstrong as an ambassador of our culture to the wider world. The boogie-woogie and R&B pianist, singer and songwriter was one of the pioneers and biggest stars in creating the rock and roll era, outselling every 1950s act except Elvis. In a career spanning more than five decades Domino had 25 gold singles, 35 records in the U.S. Billboard Top 40 and sold more than 65 million records with 5 selling more than a million copies. He won several Lifetime Achievement Awards and along with his esteemed collaborator Dave Bartholomew was a Grammy Hall of Fame award winner. In spite of his success and many accolades, Fats was a shy and humble man with a smile that lit up a room.
I hung out with Fats and his band in France in 1985, both in Paris and in Nice where I took a great B&W photo of him with Dave Bartholomew and Buster Holmes. Somewhere I also have a neat photo of their feet that I took at the same time because Fats always wore two-toned shoes as did Buster.
Fats traveled with a trunk just for his two-toned shoes sporting many black and white pairs as well as blue and white and red and white ones. Because he did not like the food in Europe, the trunk had a fake bottom where he hid packs of red beans and rice plus a hot plate cooktop with adaptor plugs to handle the voltage differences in other countries.
He loved cooking and hanging out at his home in the Lower Ninth Ward, often stopping to play on one of several pianos throughout the house. Always playing with a smile on his face, Fats was the quintessential New Orleanian until the end.
Pastiche
Ancestral Blessings
Priestess Sallie Ann Glassman has an annual ceremony celebrating the Day of the Dead in her temple on Rosalie Alley, off of Rampart between Piety and Desire. There's a potluck supper followed by a procession to the cemetery to leave food for the spirits of the dead who come back to earth at midnight for the November 2nd Day of All Souls, also known as the Feast for All Souls. Each person lights a candle in gratitude and prays to honor ancestors, particularly but not exclusively for one's relatives, with blessings by multi-denominational rabbis, priests and ministers.
The Furious Five
Throwing down at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Each day Mr. Okra rolled through the streets of New Orleans in his pickup truck that was loudly painted by Dr Bob while singing his sales pitch "I got okra, I got tomatoes, I have watermelons" like the roving food vendors once common in the city. Sadly, Arthur J. Robinson was the last of his kind.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBB5Up1u0lo
Oh, Banana
This stunning photo was selected by jurors and curators for three different exhibitions.
I was thrilled the first time (well, all times!!) because of my respect for the work and the amazing projects of the juror Deborah Luster, as well as it being the inaugural show of the New Orleans Photo Alliance where not many members were selected ... so I was excited and proud!!
Oh, Banana was taken at MOMs Ball. I Photoshopped people out of the background to create the stark black contrast. I have not seen the model in the many years since Katrina. Her name is Stephanie, a talented and intuitive massage artist.
Superb Skin Airbrush Technique.
Poulet à Risque
This photo was taken at the 6t'9 Social Aid & Pleasure Club Halloween Parade in Treme during one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen in New Orleans. It was an ethereal experience being enveloped in such intense colors both in the stunning sky and the passing joyful energy sheathed in inventive fascinating costumes. In order to capture a close up, what is not seen is that the skelly man is peddling a coffin. As is frequently said, Only in New Orleans!!!
Dave Bartholomew
Guys like Dave Bartholomew come along once in a lifetime. The list of musicians for whom he opened doors for is endless. Many covered his songs and benefitted from his graciousness and talent as a producer. Among the New Orleans notables: Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis, Tuts Washington, Allen Toussaint, Huey Smith, James Booker, Snooks Eaglin, Tommy Ridgley, Earl King, Frankie Ford and Edward Frank.
Born Davis, Dave developed writing and arranging skills as a member of the 196th Army Ground Forces Band during World War II. Active in many musical genres, he was a trumpet player, composer/songwriter, arranger, record producer, big-band leader, great businessman as well as a kindhearted man. His partnership with Fats Domino produced some of his greatest successes. He was a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and was a multi-award winner. They say Dave had over 4,000 songs in his catalog.
Earl Palmer took me to Dave's house in the early 1980's solidifying a decades-long friendship with him and his family so I was invited to attend great events and celebrations. He liked that we were both Capricorns and came to a couple of my birthday parties. He played a free concert in Jackson Square as a favor in the 1980s when I was programming Jazz Awareness Month, only wanting his band members paid. We had many fun telephone conversations in his later years.
I sadly missed what would have been my last opportunity to hug him at his 100th birthday party, but tragically he missed being with his friends and admirers honoring and commemorating his milestone as the event was cancelled because he was hospitalized. Dave was loved and appreciated by many.
All on a Mardi Gras Day
Storyville Stompers lead the Secret Society of Saint Anne
Tracy Thomson (Kabuki Hat Milliner), Grand Marshall Wesley Schmidt and Nancy Ochsenschlager (front), Rick Trolsen (trombone), Brent Rose (sax), and Craig Klein (trombone).
Geisha's Edge
Celestial Vestal
Sister Claire of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
Fleeting Absolution
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
Hand in Hand DecaDancin'
Southern Decadence Parade in the French Quarter - Labor Day Weekend in New Orleans. I photoshopped a couple of people off the balcony because they were in ugly street clothes!!
This poignant photo was taken at an early morning Secret Society of Saint Anne Bywater festivity celebrating our first Mardi Gras together after Katrina.
La Virgen Morena
This photo was taken outside a church in Costa Maya, Guatemala during the day of La Virgen Morena, also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe or the Lady of Guadalupe. La Virgen Morena, the brown virgin, is what the Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is sometimes called in Mexico where the miracle of the roses occurred with Juan Diego. There are two huge churches plus 3 chapels in one location in Mexico City that are dedicated to her with one additional chapel honoring Juan Diego which houses his tilma (mantle or cloak) imprinted with the miracle of the roses.
Danny Barker
After my mother was widowed, Danny called to offer condolences then put Blue Lu on the phone to say that we would now be part of their family. Lu loved to entertain so we were invited to all of her gatherings and carport parties.
After Danny’s death Nina Buck asked his daughter Sylvia for a photo of him to add to her collection displayed on the walls of her Palm Court Jazz Cafe. Unbeknownst to me, Sylvia told Nina that both her parents had said this photo that I had given them was their favorite taken in the era after their return from New York to live in New Orleans. Nina knew me well because I had worked for her husband George Buck in his office upstairs so she asked me to make a print for her. I burst into tears of joy to learn that my photo, taken at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, was important to them as they were so important to me.
Kin to one of New Orleans’s most important musical clans, the Barbarin family, Danny was a musician’s musician and a delightful storyteller. He appeared on over 1,000 recordings and played with so many greats including Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Sidney Bechet, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Benny Carter, Wynton Marsalis and Dr. John. He was a soloist in Cab Calloway’s band for eight years and his Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band sowed the seeds of a revival of the brass band tradition among young musicians. Danny was one of my all-time favorite New Orleanians.
This photo is of great sentimental value to my family and me.
Neighbors of my grandmother, the Morvant sisters made a petition to Saint Joseph in the 1950s. It was granted, so they were morally obliged to make an altar in gratitude. Although they worked at the Woolworth Five and Dime Store on Canal Street and were poor, they saved their pennies every week to be able to produce their altar the following year. We were blessed to watch it grow year by year as neighbors pitched in to help, with many making cookies and cakes. The sisters eventually were gifted with that beautiful statue of Saint Joseph, which became a magnificent evolution as their altar became so popular that they moved it to their parish Our Lady of Good Counsel Church on Louisiana Avenue. The priests lived next door to the church and their huge carport on Chestnut Street became a significant gathering spot for the feast to Saint Joseph. Congregants and neighbors pitched in for a fish fry and donated many Italian delectables that are part of the sweet feast day celebrations dedicated to feeding the poor. Sadly, that lovely church and Community Center building next door were closed by the Archdiocese. The Morvant's altar expanded again and is now one of the most culturally celebrated altars in New Orleans accompanied by one of the best feasts of Saint Joseph in Good Shepherd Parish, at Saint Stephen Church on Napoleon Avenue. The photo was printed in sepia tone and hand tinted.
Modeling the tantalizing intrigue of live body painting at a Carl Mack affair, the design echoes the ballet depiction in Edgar Degas’ “La classe de danse" (background).
Sunpie
Twelfth Night celebration at the House of Blues, 2008.
Venus and Mars at the Saturn
Aquatic Ambiguity
New Orleans is a water city so what costumes could be more appropriate than mermaids? Something about mermaids speaks to me of the creative genius of our culture where costuming and masquerade are a way of life within the abundance of the waters that surround us.
Flambeau Lumière
This photo reminds me of how in my childhood the “etherealness” of Mardi Gras touched my imagination way before the advent of superkrewes with humongous floats with fancy lighting and sound effects. I loved how in the old days floats illuminated by the flames of fire from the flambeauxs would emerge from billowing smoke. The effect was spellbinding and surreal. I lowered the shutter speed settings for this image, capturing some of that old time magic.
I personally have had frightening experiences with flambeaux. I still have scars on my leg from burning fuel that sloshed from open cans atop a flambeau when I was 7 or 8 years old, in the early 1950s. Another time a man ran across the street because he saw that my mother's hair was on fire. He put her hair between his palms, quickly rubbing the flames out.
Tarah Cards
You are probably thinking that this is one of my Photoshop creations, but this striking photo was simply clicked au naturel illuminating the astonishing handiwork of make-up artist supreme, whose professional name is "Tarah Cards," using her own captivating face to spotlight her creativity.
Diabla
Devilish Tantalizing Teasing Burlesque.
Dancing Divas
Anomalous
Fats Domino, Dave Bartholomew, Buster Holmes
Nice Jazz Festival, France, 1985.
Thank you WWOZ for presenting us the opportunity to have a new way of celebrating our beloved Jazz Festival!!
I was the only staff photographer for Jazz Fest for 9 years and pulled out one of my old ID's in tribute to last weekend in April and the first in May.
I grabbed a handful of ID's hanging together to take this photo that included this badge of lovely Allison Miner of Music Heritage Stage and JazzFest History fame.