What is "Faces of Katrina"?
Behind every statistic, every water soaked rooftop, every bus load of exhausted evacuees and every shelter full of occupied cots there is a story; a very personal story. Shreveport photographers Stan Carpenter, Kathryn Gaiennie, Talbot Hopkins, and Mike Silva, along with Lafayette photographer Philip Gould and a group of interviewers spent the year capturing those stories as they met with the evacuees, survivors, rescuers and volunteers. Those portraits and stories, many gathered in shelters and temporary housing in Northwest Louisiana where 25,000 evacuated, are Joyce’s way of “… literally giving face to the scope of the disaster.” He explains his goal and ambition of the exhibition:
“These people, in many cases have lost everything…homes, possessions, transportation…we want to evoke that feeling,” says Joyce, who is also donating the sale of his artworks, “Katrinagras,” to help raise money to support both the relief efforts in South Louisiana and to support the creation of this exhibition.
Joyce developed the vision, mission, scope, and a prototype for the arts exhibition, created with professional photographers, folklorists, oral historians, and storytellers, with a focus not only on the tragedy, but also on hope and restoration through temporary housing, hospitality, and support. Once the extraordinary “permission process” through Red Cross and the Public Shelters was complete, photographers and interviewers began a nine-month endeavor of meeting with evacuees and volunteers at their temporary residences; in public and church shelters, non-profit private shelters such as Providence House and Pelican Haven and in private homes with relatives.
“The idea is to create clean, simple black and white portraits of individuals and groups, whether by family, friend, or relation of any kind (pets, loved ones, or objects that are dear) of people that are affected by Hurricane Katrina. The backgrounds are primarily comprised of neutral “rough textured” fabric, such as muslin, burlap or canvas, in order to indicate the displacing nature of the experience. This neutrality is necessary to give a sense of uniformity to the experience:
The displacing…
Disheartening…
Discouraging…
…but sometimes haunting and heroic emotions that are etched on these faces of Katrina.”