ZombieLand

Hurricane Katrina caused catastrophic damage to the city of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, and the rebuilding effort is an ongoing process.  A unique example of this fact is in the now deserted & destroyed compound of Six Flags New Orleans.  The park is located in a low-lying area of East New Orleans, and so was extremely affected by the flooding caused by the hurricane and the ensuing loss of the levees.  The neighborhood residents view the park as an eyesore and accident waiting to happen, as teenagers enter the park and climb on shit (an understandable problem for the adults but an understandable temptation for the kids as well).  During Katrina, the park’s drainage system failed and the water was not subsequently drained from the park for over a month.  A majority of the rides were ruined, and all the debris and equipment that could not be utilized in another franchise park was ultimately left behind.  While I fully understand the annoyance of the residents to this rotting reminder of the damage inflicted on the city, this very negligence also enabled us to step over that broken fence and photograph the abandoned park over 6 years later…

Please enjoy our tour (and check out more pics at http://www.bgk1853.com/) of the graffiti-artist playground that is Six Flags New Orleans 2011.          

Spreading the photog love to the kiddies of the boogie down Bronx…

Two fabulous friends of ours started a non-profit with the goal of ending digital inequality in the underserved communities of NYC.  Started from a Bed-Stuy apartment and the community of Lafayette Gardens in 2007, IgotITtoo now works with numerous agencies and communities throughout the city.  This fully volunteer-based organization doesn’t just teach computer literacy courses, but work to build on the inherent strengths and values embodied by each individual community. 

So anyway, when our bud asked that we come out and teach an “Intro to Street Photography” class with the kids of Morris Heights in the Bronx, we happily accepted.  The community had recently suffered the loss of several youth to street violence, and a rally was being held later in the week in order to draw attention to the increasing violence in the area.  The rally was organized by an amazing woman, Ms. Cathy, that we had the pleasure of meeting during our time in the Bronx.  A great woman, doing great things for her community.

The kids were AMAZING.  Such pure joy and tremendous talent running around the neighborhood, snapping at everything!  The beauty was that these were people, places, and things they had passed numerous times before, but that were now being looked at in a different way, being really seen.  After spending about an hour shooting in the community, we headed back to the community center, where Ms. Cathy had graciously loaded photo editing software on all the center’s computers so that the kids could each edit their favorite picture of the day.

Check out the great stuff going on at http://www.igotittoo.org/.  Or even better, learn how you can become a volunteer with this amazing organization!  There are lots of ways to share the love, from teaching a class to donating old computer equipment or showing up for a “tech day” to donate your IT skills!  So hit them up, and tell Clare we say what up…