Florestine Perrault Collins is not a household name in New Orleans. She was one of the country’s first Black women professional photographers, and in the early 1900s, she was the first to have her own studio in New Orleans.
Collins is receiving some extra exposure this month as part of the PhotoNOLA photography festival. There are a few of Collins’ images in “Called to the Camera: Black American Studio Photographers,” which opened in September at the New Orleans Museum of Art. (That show closes Jan. 8, 2023.) Collins is at the center of “First Frame,” part of a project on Black photographers in New Orleans, which opened in October at the New Orleans African American Museum in Treme. It features an immersive installation that imagines Collins’ studio. PhotoNOLA has a panel discussion about Collins’ work at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, at the Historic New Orleans Collection.
Those and related shows are among the more than 40 exhibitions included in PhotoNOLA, which runs Dec. 7-11 at museums, galleries and other venues across the city. Subjects range from New Orleans street scenes to nature studies to nudes, and some shows feature multi-media works incorporating photography. Many shows open during the festival remain on display for a month or more. PhotoNOLA also has several events for contemporary photographers, including portfolio reviews and workshops. There are speakers addressing photographers’ work and techniques, parties and receptions on most nights and more.
The work of photographers participating in the portfolio review is on view during the PhotoWALK at the Ogden Museum from 7-9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9. Also on view is the annual CURRENTS show, featuring work by 10 New Orleans Photo Alliance members. Admission to those events is free, as well as to the festival book fair at the museum from noon to 4:30 p.m.
NOMA’s “Called to the Camera” examines the history and impact of Black studio photographers around the country and highlights several New Orleans photographers. Most of the expo concerns work from the earliest studio photography through the early 1900s, but there is some work by contemporary photographers. It includes Polaroid photos by Sthaddeus “Polo Silk” Terrell, who has chronicled New Orleans’ hip-hop scene via quick-posed portraits and party pics. The museum also has an expo of his work, “Picture Man: Portraits by Polo Silk,” on display through Jan. 8, 2023. NOMA has two other photography shows, including pilot, photographer and educator Anne Noggle’s work.
The Ogden Museum opens “Black Alchemy: Remembering Fazendeville” by Aaron Turner on Friday, Dec. 9. The project explores the historic Black community in St. Bernard Parish that was razed in the mid-1960s when its land was appropriated to make way for the expansion of the national park for the Chalmette Battlefield. Turner is an Arkansas-based photographer who developed the show while in a residency at the museum. Ogden curator Richard McCabe will introduce Turner and his work at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9.
Also at the Ogden is a show of work by Kentucky photographer Ralph Eugene Meatyard, an optician who created enigmatic black-and-white photos, sometimes of friends and sometimes delving into abstraction. McCabe will discuss Meatyard’s work with photographer Emmet Gowin at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7, at the Higgins Hotel, prior to the festival’s opening reception.
The festival also honors the previous year’s portfolio review prizewinner. Although that show typically is at the New Orleans Photo Alliance (NOPA) space, this year Gryder Gallery on Julia Street will present Diane Meyer’s hand-stitched photos taken along the 100-mile path formerly defined by the Berlin Wall. Gryder also has a show of surrealist photos by women photographers.
The NOPA gallery on Oak Street will show 20 photos by Ruth Orkin, who is known for her landmark 1951 image “American Girl in Italy.” The show is curated by Natalie Cooney and Rebecca Rau, who have focused on Orkin’s cinematic style. The show features images from New York, Europe and a cross-country bicycle trip Orkin made when she was 17. PhotoNOLA will screen a short film about Orkin at its official closing party on Saturday, Dec. 10 at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge and the adjoining St. Claude Arts Park. Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes and the Louisiana Sunspots will perform. The event is free for festival pass members and tickets are $40.
There are a couple of PhotoNOLA shows in the St. Bernard Arts District curated by NOPA member Christopher Ryan. Zeitgeist presents “Lord of the Flies — Thailand,” featuring movie poster prints of reenactments of the novel’s loss of civil order, depicted by a Thai scout troop. Ryan’s Arabi Visual Arts Gallery opens “Violated Metropolis” on Wednesday, Dec. 7. The group show explores the intersection of street art, blight and cityscapes.
Other museum shows include an expo about transgender and gender-nonconforming older adults at Newcomb Art Museum. The National World War II Museum presents a look at the use of photography in war, from reconnaissance to documentation to propaganda.
There also are photo expos at art galleries around town. A Gallery for Fine Photography presents black-and-white landscapes by British photographer Michael Kenna. Arthur Roger Gallery presents two shows exploring opulence by New York photographer David Leventi.
For a full list of photo expos and events, visit photonola.org.
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