NOTES
Inspiration Board: Hairnomicon: Communiques from Beyond the Chair
Antique fake ghost photography to be the inspiration for a new book.
I wanted to share with you the inspiration board for a project I'm working on with the Left Brain Group for the upcoming event in March called Bayou St. Blonde, which will happen here in New Orleans. The goal of this project is to create a brief, fun photo book displaying the talents and craft of the artists represented by the Left Brain Group.
The story behind this project is a seance conducted by amateur spiritualists who want to communicate with their favorite hair stylists who have departed from this existence. As someone who is enamored with hoaxed ghost photography from the late 1800s and early 1900s, it made sense to emulate some of the old techniques used by these talented fakers of the time. Although there is hardly any mention of the photographers who did these shoots, I thought it was time to honor the creative methods they used to create these faked images of spirit activity.
NEWS About My Upcoming Book: Ghosts of New Amsterdam
I'm excited to share news about my first book due to be released in October.
TriBeCa, Manhattan
“In one aspect, yes, I believe in ghosts, but we create them. We haunt ourselves.”
I'm really excited to announce the release of my photography book, Ghosts of New Amsterdam. It's a visually lyrical collection of photos that together compile my experience of living and visiting, New York City, the spiritual home of capitalism during a post-9/11 era; a time in which many of us have begun to wonder what the American Dream really is and what traditional values have changed and why. The visual text is subtle and I leaned more on metaphor than literal interpretation, which gave the project a dreamlike narrative. It's photojournalism if photojournalism was taken literally as a personal visual journal, like a diary.
The book is slated for an October release and will be available on Amazon as well as my site. I can't wait to share the cover, which is beginning to look exactly as I wanted.
As always, thanks for reading. Stay in touch.
Email: info@carlosdetres.com
The End of One and the Beginning of Three
The St. Louis Cemetery #1 project ended with some photos of tourists haunting the dead. Also some information about my three upcoming, New Orleans-based projects.
Well, that's it for St. Louis Cemetery #1. From here on out we can only go with tour guides so there's a solid chance that I'll never see it again but I've made so many photographs of it. Hundreds. It's conceivable that one day I will have life sized prints of it in my home. I even made audio recordings at the site throughout the day. Other than a few exterior shots of the cemetery, principle photography is over.
On to the next...
My current projects, one of which I will begin are currently without names but here's a list of subjects that I'll be covering with slight future adjustments to theme and coverage. One or two of these may be vague while the others are more clear:
1) The economic impact of wetland loss throughout southeast Louisiana.
2) The borderlands in New Orleans where the realm of the living blurs with the one belonging to the dead. It's a very strange, difficult one to photograph being that it will be done documentary style. How does one actually photograph something like this? Months of research and location hunting has already been done. It's based on several books that I've read in the last six or seven years. This is the project that, if done successfully, I can leave this planet happily.
3) Ruins of New Orleans will cover just that. There's a dilapidated house on Esplanade below the I10 expressway that reminds me of the house in Interview With the Vampire where Louis returns to Lestat at the end. It looks exactly like it. I decided to build this project because I am always wondering what neighborhoods must have looked like before that ugly expressway was built. This is the one that I'll be starting this week.
Below are a few other photos from yesterday's very fun shoot.
Please feel free to comment, ask questions or whatever in the comments section below. If you'd like to chat with me, go ahead and email info@carlosdetres.com.
More posts about this project at this LINK.
One More Day To Go!
"...then there was another feeling, one of accomplishment because, no matter what, principle photography was almost over."
I waited at the gate of Saint Louis Cemetery #1 before it opened. I was both excited for the days prospect of shooting and also a bit bummed that I could count the number of days left to freely visit one of my favorite locations in New Orleans. But then there was another feeling, one of accomplishment because, no matter what, principle photography was almost over.
After tomorrow, with the exception of one more day of shooting exteriors, I'll be in the process of sequencing and sorting through hundreds of photos. I've learned a lot of a lot in the last month since this project began. Every minute provided was filled with complete joy and concentration. I met a lot of people and discovered the cemetery's most intimate corners.
The purpose of this project is more art than historical. It is a showcase of years of decay, architecture, loss of life and the preciousness of every moment. When this project is completed and showcased, no one single tomb will be identified. It is, in a way, a collective of people who lived and traversed these streets, painted the city's character with a wild brush, and perhaps even wandered through Saint Louis Cemetery while they lived. New Orleans began and continued with those laid to rest within its walls and it grows within us who live and purvey the old traditions and create new ones. This is obviously a passion project and I can't wait to share the completed vision.
Here are some select photos from today. These were made with a lot of joy, love and sheer curiosity and persistence.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at info@carlosdetres.com or leave a comment below.
