FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:Media contacts:
Lauren Noel, The Historic New Orleans Collection
(504) 556-7655 | laurenn@hnoc.org
Sarah Chambless Federer, Gambel Communications
(504) 324-4242 | sarahc@gambelpr.com
New photography book marks 10th anniversary of Katrina
New Orleans, Louisiana- The Historic New Orleans Collection will mark the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with the release of the new book "The Katrina Decade: Images of an Altered City," featuring a collection of black-and-white images by David G. Spielman.
Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. The storm and subsequent levee breaches ravaged the city of New Orleans. In the 10 years since, Spielman, a fine-art photographer, freelance photojournalist, and New Orleans resident, embraced the traditions of photographers from the Works Progress Administration and Farm Security Administration and documented subtle changes to his beloved city.
"New Orleans has a melancholy beauty that defies logic and transcends time," said Spielman. "In the years after Katrina, I explored and continue even now to explore most of the city, trying to capture the city's story for future generations."
"The Katrina Decade" presents a collection of more than 125 haunting images that leave viewers with more questions than answers. Vines creep up the side of a home that could be vacant or occupied. Graffiti mars-or beautifies?-the walls of an abandoned building. Readers must draw their own conclusions.
The hardcover book includes essays by Spielman, preservationist Jack Davis and photographic historian John H. Lawrence. Available July 1, 2015, "The Katrina Decade" will retail for $39.95 and will be available for purchase at THNOC, local bookstores and national online retailers. The free companion exhibition will be on view August 22, 2015-January 9, 2016, at THNOC's dedicated art gallery, 400 Chartres St. in the French Quarter.
John Berendt, author of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," wrote, "As strangely beautiful as the encroaching vines that still enshroud whole rows of houses ten years after Katrina, Spielman's astonishing photographs speak with a quiet but forceful eloquence-of devastation and abandonment, of perseverance and renewal."
"The great photographer David Spielman captured the essence of hope and despair in his powerful pictures of Katrina's devastation," said Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute and best-selling author. "But he never put his Leica down, because he knows that after ten years the recovery of his beloved city is both amazing and incomplete. The result is this poignant portrait of rebirth and blight, perfect for an artist who's a master of black and white."
About the author:
Assignments have taken David G. Spielman to six continents, where he has photographed presidents and other world leaders. "The Katrina Decade" is his fourth published collection, following "Southern Writers" (1997), "Katrinaville Chronicles: Images and Observations from a New Orleans Photographer" (2007) and "When Not Performing: New Orleans Musicians" (2012). He has called New Orleans home for more than 40 years.
About The Historic New Orleans Collection
Founded in 1966, The Historic New Orleans Collection is a museum, research center and publisher dedicated to the study and preservation of the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South. For more information, visit www.hnoc.org or call (504) 523-4662.
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