Neutral Ground: New Orleans 1990-2005

I was born and raised in New Orleans. However, I never fully appreciated how unique a place it was until I went off to college. It then occurred to me that New Orleans was completely singular in its culture, food, architecture, music, art, and colloquialisms. Even the air is unique, soaked in humidity, which affects the light.
As a seven year old, in 1965, Hurricane Betsy formed around the date of my birthday, September 8th. Betsy was to be my first experience with a terrifying hurricane but not my last. It left a mark on me. I wondered and worried, how can we live below sea level? Betsy broke levees and flooded low areas of the city. The storm caused a billion dollars in damage.
My last hurricane was some fifty years later, when Katrina struck, again flooding the city. It would be my last experience of the levees breaking. I moved northwest to Baton Rouge, further inland and on higher ground. The photographs that comprise this book, made between the time of these events and revelations, helped shape how I saw my beloved city. All images were made in and around New Orleans, between 1990 and 2005.