"The past isn't dead; it isn't even past."
– William Faulkner
This project uses a 5x7 film camera to document the history, landscape and culture of one of America's most distinct and anomalous regions, Southern Louisiana. A French and Spanish colony until 1803, its Créole inhabitants resisted the encroachment of American language and influences well into the 19th Century. Equally obstinate was the region's geography. Consisting mainly of swamps, salt marshes and low-lying prairies, it is hard to imagine a more inhospitable place for 18th Century colonists attempting to re-create European civilization. In their struggles against hurricanes, floods, snakes, insects, disease, heat and humidity, French and Spanish settlers had to draw upon the survival skills of their African slaves and of native people. All three groups intermingled and a unique hybrid culture was born.
Le Monde Créole blurs the lines between traditional documentary work and beautifully crafted fine art photography presented in galleries and museums.
The exhibition opened at the Fresno Art Museum then traveled to Centro Fotográfico Manuel Álvarez Bravo in Oaxaca, Octavia Gallery in New Orleans and the Weston Gallery in Carmel.
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