Perspective

A pair of photos by yours truly are featured on the op-ed page of the Times-Picayune today. The pictures depict a before and after scene on Bienville — a house, and then an empty lot where the house used to be.

This is part of a series of “visual commentaries” that the T-P has been running since Katrina. The paper doesn’t seem to put these online, which is unfortunate, because they’re pretty interesting. So instead of putting a link here, I had to take a picture of the paper myself.

Thanks to Annette Sisco who saw these pictures here back in October and had the idea to feature them. In fact, at her suggestion, I revisited the lot earlier this month and shot the “after” picture again to more closely match the perspective of the “before” picture, and without the backhoe that was there in October. I think the piece is much stronger for it.

I also like the way it’s presented, without explanation. It doesn’t say “before and after” as I have here. You have to puzzle it out, take a moment to realize it is the same location, and then realize the house is gone, and wonder what happened.