Hurricane Katrina left New Orleanians stranded among a sea of roofs. But on one roof, a woman stands strong. “I met this young couple and saw that the roof behind their house had letters on it,” said Thomas Neff, photography professor. “I asked them if they could get me on top of that roof, and they said, ‘Sure.’ Then the wife, Caroline Koch, said, ‘I’ll put my Wonder Woman underwear on and stand by it.'” Neff photographed 180 people affected by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Those people are now the subject of his show at the Alfred C. Glassell Jr. Exhibition Gallery titled “THIS IS NOT AMERICA: Portraits of Hurricane Katrina Survivors.” One year ago Neff began a 45-day stint living in a van in New Orleans. During his stay in New Orleans, Neff volunteered with the sheriff’s department and took photographs of people he met that had stayed in the city. On the day of his show opening, Neff wore a T-shirt with the phrase “The Times-Picayune: We Publish Come Hell and High Water,” as he told stories through narratives of the people he met and photographed in New Orleans after Katrina. He knows all the people in the photographs – as well as their stories – by heart. “Once I got down there, I could only go where the water wasn’t,” he said. “When I met this man, Henry Helm,” Neff said, pointing to a photograph of Helm standing on his balcony. “I explored the people who chose to stay and why.” Neff took a photograph of Helm in New Orleans right after the storm and had a conversation with him from across a body of water. Neff took another picture of Helm cleaning up his house months later. The people in Neff’s photographs come from all walks of life. “I take them how they present themselves,” Neff said, pointing to a couple that appeared to be transgendered. Neff also told the story of a man who told him he was the only left-handed witch in the French Quarter. “He said to me, ‘You know, Tom, I’m a very old soul,'” Neff said. He said the man explained that he has lived lives over the past 400 years and had cast spells. “I said to him, ‘Why don’t you cast a spell to have someone publish my work?'” One photograph in Neff’s show is a picture of Jim Gibeault standing on Frenchman Street in New Orleans and holding a sign that read: “With help we can help ourselves. Thanks to all heroes.” “I have seen many of them several times and most of them at least once since I photographed them,” Neff said of the people in his photographs. Neff said many of the people in his photographs were present at his show in New Orleans. “During the opening of the April 1 show at the Ogden, most of the people came,” Neff said. Neff said his experience in New Orleans has not changed the way he approaches teaching his students at the University. “There are some things you can’t teach,” he said. “I encourage my students to find their own voice.” Neff said it is important to show his photography and narratives in Baton Rouge at this time because of the population who is now here because of the hurricane. “It is a good time because it is the one year anniversary but also because of the number of people from New Orleans who are in this city now,” Neff said. “I am hoping this helps them to heal.”
—–Contact Kelly Caulk at kcaulk@lsureveille.com