You see giant piles like this one all over the neighborhood. This group of volunteers hailed from Seattle, WA, and spent an entire week extracting junk from this house, helping to prepare it for renovation.
When it's rebuilt, the goal is to save the floor of this sandwich shop, which is in remarkable shape considering the rest of the place (or lack thereof).
I shot these images for the Preservation Resource Center. They held a press conference to unveil this home, which represents a big step in the restoration of the 9th Ward neighborhood. Not a single city official attended.
I've joined forces with the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans (http://www.prcno.org/) to help document the great work they've been doing to revitalize the 9th Ward. This house will be one of many "Katrina Cottages," affordable and safe homes that will offer a much-improved alternative to trailers for displaced residents.
We worked away under an ominous sky. This particular area in central New Orleans was under about 8 feet of water during Hurricane Katrina. This house will be built so that the floor will sit higher than that.
We helped put in termite protection, and the perimeter to the flooring system. And I got to use power tools. And am quite surprised to still have 10 fingers...
FYI...This underlining business is unintentional, so bear with the excessive emphasis! Apparently I'm not as technically savvy as I'd like to think. At any rate, here's a perfect example of the discouraging lack of progress in the Ninth Ward. I re-visited this house after taking photos of it last January. The only noteworthy changes that have taken place in the past 10 months are, 1) the roof is now in the front lawn, and 2) the staircase has collapsed.
Fading photographs tacked to a mold-ridden wall, years later, Katrina's flood line still is pronounced. As memories quite literally disappear from abandoned walls, I've been trying to preserve the remnants left behind.
I love New Orleans. Hanging in the humid air and spilling out saxophones is the soul of a city unlike any other. And it’s a city still desperately struggling in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. And also persevering against all odds.
The continued neglect of this city, coupled with the uniquely unbreakable spirit of New Orleans, motivates me to take photos. I've spent the past five years revisiting this city, documenting the destruction and the triumph over it to celebrate what makes this city so great...a friendly reminder of the importance of saving it.