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The City of the Dead, the Giver of Peace
Does the cemetery bring you peace too?
St. Roch Cemetery, New Orleans
A walked past the memories of thousands of lives, tokens left behind by loved ones who continue life without these deceased friends and family members. The gravity of sorrow always strikes me during these wanderings but I can't get away from them. It's like an obsession. When I'm among these concrete crypts, flowers and trinkets, I feel at peace. Clouds graze the sun, moving slowly across the blue sky raising shadows from the ground.
Email: info@carlosdetres.com
Die and Let Die VIDEO
"Die and Let Die" is a video photo project about the haunting of St. Louis Cemetery #1 by people.
I compiled a video from a previous photography project I completed called "DIE AND LET DIE". I had recorded audio while I was shooting at St. Louis Cemetery #1 that was intended to be included in this project. The calliope from the riverboat, Natchez, can be heard from the Mississippi River as well as the mutterings of cemetery visitors and car horns from Basin Street.
The project was inspired by seeing how much vandalism had occurred at the cemetery that, in my opinion, was perpetuated by some of the myths surrounding the cemetery, such as marking tombs with three Xs so that a wish could be granted. I photographed people in this project as incidental subjects such as one would find in a supposed picture of a ghost. One could be taking a picture of a living room and find a spirit when the image is reviewed so that's how I shot this project. A little tongue-in-cheek joke that addresses a serious issue at the cemeteries of New Orleans.
If you're interested in learning more about the local cemeteries, check out the website of Save Our Cemeteries. They're doing very good things.
Email me if you'd like to use this video or just chat: 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.
