Photo © Chris Metcalf.
To coincide with the first anniversary of the hurricanes that devastated much of the Gulf Coast, two longtime Fotologgers, Lori Baker (gardengal) and Eric Harvey Brown (dogseat, moredogseat) recently edited and self-published a book of photographs from the region. Signs of Life: Surviving Katrina features work by forty photographers, many of whom live in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, but also several who, like Lori, traveled south in the immediate aftermath to volunteer their days and nights finding shelter, food, and first aid for the hurricane victims.
Moving slowly through the book’s pages, the handpainted messages and symbols that residents and workers alike scrawled across crumbling walls and roofs, destroyed vehicles, and even the middle of the street start to form a powerful kaleidoscope of emotions: grief, despair, anger, fear, relief, pride, and even gallows humor. One house in Biloxi, Mississippi, sporting a huge gash in the roof above the front door, says, “FOR SALE FIXER UPPER.” Another brick wall in New Orleans says simply, “Mom is OK.” Amid the current (agonizingly slow) recovery and recriminations, Signs of Life is an urgent, eloquent reminder that two of the most fundamental forms of human communication are a call for help, and a hand extended in reply.
Besides Lori and Eric, other Fotologgers represented in Signs of Life are Erin Caskey (e_caskey), Jenene Chesbrough (pixietart), and Roy J. Skaggs (westside_pimpin).
Signs of Life: Surviving Katrina is available at lulu.com. All profits from the sale of the book go to two organizations still working in the region: Common Ground Relief and Hands On Network.
tags: Biloxi, Gulf Coast, Hurricane Relief, Katrina, New Orleans
One Response to “Vital Signs”
cypher @ 2006-10-10 04:07:05 PM says:
Nice one. Check out cakeman’s fotolog documenting his return to N.O. after 10 months here in NYC: http://www.fotolog.com/steveh
