Catching up...

It seems like "New Orleans Walls" has gone to a halt since my return from New Orleans last April. Being self-published is very demanding, but not financially viable (at least not yet!), so when paying jobs surface I take the plunge, which I actually don't mind at all since I love what I do for a living (I get paid to take pictures!!) Unfortunately in the meantime, there is no promotion department taking over and blogging all over the internet about the book. I wish... There is so much more to share about the project and I just have to accept, once again, that going with the flow is the rule!

So I'll start over where I left it almost 4 months ago:

HAYDEE ELLIS.

Meet my Fairy Godmother. I didn't even know I had one until our lives crossed paths by chance. Haydée just makes things happen. It started with Fats Domino (she's a good friend of his), and it didn't stop there. What's more, her heart is as big as her wand!
Pianist Tom McDermott introduced us by way of email in March of 2009, and it's one of those relationships that just took off as if it had always been there. We hadn't even met in person that she was already willing to help. After I took Fats' picture, she was the first person I called, although we still hadn't met yet.
Haydée is also a wonderful visual artist and pianist, and a true New Orleans character. Needless to say, I was delighted when she agreed to pose for the project. We met for the first time on the day of the photoshoot, and she was as I had pictured her: warm, fun, beautiful, down-to-earth... just plain wonderful! "Her" wall was just a few blocks from her daughter's house in the lower Garden District. I didn't have a specific idea when I picked the wall, but putting Haydée in front of it, combined with how I was feeling that day (floating in happiness), was enough to get a photo in just a few minutes:

Irene Sage

March 10, 2009.

A lot of people helped in different ways during the New Orleans Walls project, but a few made it simply possible. Irene and her husband Scott Conklin are some of those. Irene might be sometimes hard to reach, but when you've got her... well, she'll do anything to help.

When we finally connected again (after not seeing each-other for about 8 years), she just went all over: she called a bunch of people to pose, connected me with Zack Rosenburg of the St Bernard Project, and offered me a place to stay as well as her car! Since I have been running on a very small budget, having a free car made all the difference: it truly allowed me to finish the project (I stayed at Irene's three times, each visit lasting two weeks — do the math, that's A LOT of savings in car rentals!)

Now, that being said, even if I had not stayed at Irene's I would have wanted to have her in the book: that girl can sing! She has one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard!

When I went to her house on that night of March 10, 2009 to take her picture with daughter Sidney, it was late, the light was getting dim, but I still decided to give it a try (after all, I had just taken Fats Domino's photo, so at that point, anything seemed possible!)
The picture that came out is another one that was graced by one of those magical moments I encountered throughout the project, in the way its' movement harmonized with the wall. I have to confess here that this wall is the only one in the book that is not technically in New Orleans (it's in Arabi). However, it used to be a part of the city, and that was good enough for me.



The next morning, I left New Orleans feeling uplifted (no pun intended!)
As the plane took off at 7:30AM, I looked out the window and saw one of the most beautiful misty sunrises over the Crescent City...

Sallie Ann Glassman

March 10, 2009.

One thing I have found really amazing with this project is the ease with which most people have accepted to pose. Sallie was no exception. Alright, she's a voodoo priestress, so maybe she knew things I didn't know... Still, she was very graceful about the whole process; she even took me to a fantastic wall: in a Marigny alley is this amazing fence painted with Papa Gede and other spirits. This was the only wall Sallie was allowed to be photographed in front of wearing black!



By noon, I was done with the picture, and impatiently waited for Fats Domino's daughter to call. All I had to do was clean up the house and pack. My plane was leaving the next day at 7:30am.

Eddie Bo

March 9, 2009.

Eddie was all smiles the day I took his picture. The wall I found for him was just around the corner from his uptown house, and had a great Katrina significance (Although the New Orleans Walls book is not about Katrina — hence the absence of direct Katrina stories— the storm has had such an impact on the people — thus becoming a part of the local culture — that I felt it had to be somehow referred to in the book). For that reason, it was important to get a rather serious photo, but again, Eddie was all smiles, which made my goal a little tricky to reach. Eventually, I got what I wanted.
This was the last picture of Eddie. Ten days later, he had a massive heart attack. During a later trip, his sister shared with me that Eddie had been looking forward to the photo shoot, and that he purposely chose the cap with the Fleur de Lys. Although I didn't want anything distracting from the wall on the models' clothing, I made an exception for Eddie and didn't photoshop the emblem out.
I will always remember the last time I saw Eddie, when he entered his house and closed the iron door. He had a big smile on his face...



Fats Domino's daughter called me that night to inquire about the New Orleans Walls project. She listened to me carefully, then finally said, "I will call you tomorrow morning after his doctor's appointment. We'll see if he's up to it."
I DID hold my breath...

Irma Thomas

March 9, 2009.

When I called Irma with Jan Ramsey's good word, it didn't take her long to nonchalantly accept to pose for the project. At that time, a friend was letting me use his car, but I didn't know for sure when it would be available. So Irma kindly offered to pick me up and drive to the French Quarter where I had spotted a couple of walls on Dauphine Street (Irma lives several miles away from the French Quarter, in New Orleans East).
In the first wall, I could see a face (a little scary, but still...) and was trying to get some sort of an interaction between Irma and the "face" (upper right on the photo).



Then I decided to move one house over to the right and snapped a few more pictures. All along, I was talking to Irma while taking pictures, which she didn't realize, so by the time I was done, she thought we hadn't started yet!

Irma's photo for the book came from the second wall. As soon as I applied the double-exposure, I knew it was a keeper. However, I didn't know how Irma would react to it (it's purposely blurry and you can't see her face all that well). So when I went back a few months later to get her story, I showed her the photo and thankfully she was fine with it (By-the-way, not everyone got to see their photo before the book came out).

Irma is another one of those who knew exactly which story they would share for the book. With all the "models" I tried as much as possible to get stories everyone could somehow relate to, hence avoiding the "fame" thing. This wasn't an issue with Irma. I found her to be humble and straight forward. In the last paragraph of her story, Irma shares that getting her diploma was more important to her than winning her Grammy Award. I was all packed up and ready to go when she said that, but the comment made such an impression on me that I took my little recorder out again and asked her to repeat the phrase. It's written in the book just as it came out of her mouth.

March 8, 2009 — part 1.

March 8, 2009, turned out to be a particularly busy day, with 5 photo shoots planned between 11am and 6:30pm, from the French Quarter, to the 9th ward, to uptown, and to the West Bank.

As much as I stayed quite isolated during my first trip to New Orleans a few months earlier, this second visit was an excuse to reconnect with old friends. John Autin, pianist and owner of Rabadash Records, is one of those. The day I went to visit him and his wife Jill, Lindsay Mendez, the youngest recording artist to be signed by the New Orleans-based label, was in the studio with her dad. When John told them about the New Orleans Walls project, they both let me know immediately they'd love for Lindsay to be a part of it.
Two days later, we met in the French Quarter. It had to be a sunny day for the photo I had in mind to work. Lindsay showed up with her mom at 11:00am as planned, wearing a black dress. The sun was out and the photo turned out great (once you see it in the book, you'll understand).



The next stop was in the Upper 9th ward, at the Musicians Village where Little Freddie King lives. I met Freddie years ago when I worked for Orleans Records producer Carlo Ditta. Freddie is as sweet as can be, always has a smile on his face (at least every single time I visited him), but is hard to track down when you live in North Idaho. Since I was in town, I just showed up at his gig, and the next day, I picked him up at his place. Freddie was ready for the photo, all dressed in black, with a chain full of keys hanging down almost to his knees. I had spotted a cemetery wall not far from the Musicians Village, which is where we headed for. The photo shoot took a mere 3 minutes.
When I returned several months later to get his story, Freddie knew exactly what moment of his life he was going to share, and yet it's a story his manager had never heard before.



Day to be continued...

note: in case you haven't read any of the past posts, the pictures shown here are not the ones featured in the New Orleans Walls book.

March 8, 2009 — part 2.

An hour after taking Little Freddie King's picture, I was uptown, knocking on Guitar Slim, Jr. door.
Most of the appointments I had during those five trips to New Orleans between September 2008 and May 2010 had to be scheduled just a few days before, if not the day of the photo shoot. I'd call people from Sandpoint to make arrangements, and most of the time I'd be asked, "Are you in town?" to which I responded, " Not yet." And I would be told, "Oh, then call back when you're in town!" Does that sound familiar?? Eventually, I got used to it, and for some reason, it all worked out.
Most people who see Guitar Slim's wall picture for the first time have a strong reaction to it. As far as I'm concerned, I think his story is pretty powerful. It's definitely out there (some people would say crazy!) but I will tell you this: he didn't make it up for me. The way he shared his story was real and sincere. He even took me to the house where it happened!



By the time I got to June Yamagishi's house, I was starting to feel tired, and was hoping to get some action shot to kind of wake up. As I drove by June's lower Garden District neighborhood, I found the ideal wall: bright red and black, perfectly alive. Now, I hadn't met June yet, and for some reason I thought the guy was in his 20's. Turns out he's more in his 50's, so when I first saw him I thought my plans wouldn't work out. As delicately as possible, I asked how his health was (I know, that's tacky — but I was on a mission!) and as only he can say it, June responded "good, good!"
Well, he took me by surprise: the guy could jump alright, higher than anticipated:



The day ended on the West Bank, by Algiers Point where John Autin lives. I never went to that neighborhood while living in New Orleans, but if I ever were to move back, I would seriously consider Algiers Point. The view to New Orleans is so beautiful, and the French Quarter is just a Ferry ride away. I love it!!
Back to Autin. That crumbling wall must have been waiting for us before giving way to gravity. Of course, it's no longer standing, but I'm so glad I was able to capture it.