Time Fades Away

  In Bangkok I used to spend a lot of time in Thailand, when I took holidays from Hong Kong. In the west, we don't understand Asian distance. It's a six-hour flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok, Thailand.  I'd check into my hotel and go swimming...   

  Twenty Years On I made this picture ten years ago on the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall at Buras, Louisiana. It was made at the new levee in the Lower 9th Ward, which was pretty much wiped off the map. It still is today. There are a few houses here and there, including Brad Pitt's failed Make It Right program. Most of it has returned to nature, which may be as it should be.

  The Storm In two days, it will be twenty years, Life changed. The city changed. 80% of the city was underwater, entire neighborhoods were destroyed. Everyone who was there changed. My neighborhood was under six feet of water. This picture was made in The French Quarter, which did not flood. Those founders knew what they were doing.

Everybody is in a hurry. I make pictures where I find them. I make pictures that "feel." I make pictures that are motion-driven. After all, speed doesn't kill, it drives.    

Sweeping The Light You've seen my sweeping up pictures before, but not like this. This one has bokeh, a meaningless Japanese word that has assumed BS meaning in the west. They say that the west is the best, but not in this case... of you.    

Daydreams Sometimes pictures just sort of appear. This is one of them. That, and a little computer magic.   

Sweeping Keeping things clean.     

Oh, yes, I can. You can't take that picture. Oh, yeah? Watch me. You can't take my picture. Then, get the hell out of it. I'm a photographer. I make pictures. It's what I do. Don't tell me I can't. Or, I'll chase you around, taking your picture... the camera as a weapon.   

  The Sweeper It's my job, Jimmy Buffett said, He was right. It's the one you have, so do it well. Not only that, but it may lead to better things. Or, not.  

  Anything Is Possible Forget AI, just using Photoshop can get you pictures like these, but I used OnOne's AI to make these three images. I have lots of questions, not about technique, but about moral intent. Do I tell you these are creations? Or, do I pass them off as real?    

Lower Ninth Ward This picture is famous in New Orleans. It was made in The Lower Ninth Ward at the new levee on the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I guess we were celebrating that we'd made it that far. But, still, today twenty years on the Lower Ninth Ward is mostly a swamp. There are a few houses here and there and some falling apart Make It Right houses that world-class architects designed, although they never understood our climate. The land returned to nature where it belongs.   

  A Question of Needs Assignments can be tricky things. Sometimes, the assigning editor doesn't know what he or she wants, and you have to show them. Sometimes, he or she schedules a shoot without thinking about timing, and you have to fix that, For instance, this picture took two days to make. One, to get to know the subject and the other day to actually make the picture. It's not your usual portrait, which is why it was selected for the cover. I was booked for one day at one day rate but the Sun was happy to pay for two.  

Things Grew I photographed New Orleans for years after Hurricane Katrina blew through the city, destroying 80 percent of it. Many neighborhoods remained abandoned for years. On the right side of the building you cane see the Katrina cross which was sprayed there by the investigators, the date, the number of dead  --  humans and animals. This is not my house, but mine was investigated by the Texas State Troopers. Yes. They came for us from everywhere. Once, while I was at my motel waiting for my ride to Fort Polk, I was sitting by the side of by the side of I-10 when a caravan of ten California State Patrol cars passed by. Tears in my eyes. I grew up in Southern California. They came for us.