Welcome to the February 2010 Sampler, where and when I continue the look at the part of my life in which even through my photography I was, out of intense societal neurotypical pressure, pretending to be something that I was not.
Saturday The 6th
Saturday 6 February 2010 was election day in New Orleans and throughout the state of Louisiana.
This was the northwesterward view along the northwestward lanes of Orleans Avenue at Carrollton Avenue, near the epicenter of my whoadieness.
That is when we learned that Mitch Landrieu would become mayor.
Sunday The 7th
I was in the French Quarter and “watched the game” with my pal Porkchop and some of his pals on one of the most memorable days in the history of New Orleans: the day that the Saints won the Super Bowl.
As I walked out of the French Quarter down Canal Street, waiting for a streetcar that never came (I ended up walking all the way back to my Mid-City apartment), I snapped some scenes of the celebration that night.
That was fun, and I am glad that I did it, but I wouldn’t do it again, not now; I know myself better now.
Tuesday The 9th
“Dat Tuesday” was what the even was called, and I remember that it was quite cold (for New Orleans standards); it was the celebratory parade for the Saints’ Super Bowl victory.
‘Twas an exciting time for so many.
And it was a big, quickly-scheduled and arranged parade in the middle of parade season.
Saturday The 13
On Saturday, it was time for the Endymion parade, in keeping with the tradition of trying to be something that I wasn’t.
It was fun, at the time, at least.
Sunday The 14th
Returning to the roots to keep in this traditional of trying to be something that I was not, the next day, I shot this.
There is actually a low-level trauma that I am experience in this process of looking at and posting these old images.
Monday The 15th
The next day, Lundi Gras, I chased the westbound Sunset Limited to the Berwick Bay and got this shot afterward.
I was being myself more than during any other portion of this essay so far.
Saturday The 20th
I chased the northbound Crescent to Slidell, then shot a picture of a parked New Orleans Public Belt Railroad train, then went back to the bayou and photographed an old “Santa Fe” maintenance truck at Raceland.
That is the northbound Crescent crossing Lake Pontchartrain.
Saturday The 27th
For what would be the first of a three times that year, I foamed the Kansas City Southern Railway’s Gulfport Subdivision. I caught the Hattiersburg Turn coming southbound at Brooklyn, a couple of years before the line was rebuilt , allowing for much faster trains.
Later that day, some police officer stopped to see what I was doing while I was set up for a shot at around Perry. I recounted the story to my students two days later, on Monday. I said that the officer then signaled a hand up and a smile to some people in a house across the highway, suggesting that he might have been there because they called the police upon seeing me.
I said that “it was a black officer; so, he probably didn’t care.” The black faces in the classroom, which were most of them, were still, wondering, perhaps worryingly, what I meant by that.
“He’s probably used to white people calling the cops for no reason,” I said, to which the class erupted in laughter.
Sunday The 28th
This one example of stepping outside of myself and being someone I am not was less onerous than other ones, since it involved some friends participating in the event and since it was a short walk from where I lived at the time.
March will bring more of the same. I didn’t really much start to become myself again until late 2011.
Stay tuned.
Jbx
