New Orleans and Mardi Gras

This is a small part of a much larger portfolio that I have been working on since 1990 titled "Twenty Years of Mardi Gras". I have been photographing New Orleans since 1984, a portfolio of work that includes cemetaries, French Quarter buildings and scenes, and the landscape in and around New Orleans.

Fat Tuesday, French Quarter 1998

Parade 1991

Rex Parade 1991

untitled, French Quarter

Crowd during Mardi Gras, French Quarter

Hermes Parade 1991

Rex Parade 1992

French Quarter 1996 42"x42" silver print

French Quarter 1995

French Quarter 1995

Jazz Funeral

Jazz Funeral for Alan Jaffe, NOLA 1987

Jazz Funeral, NOLA 1987

The Evangelicals and Street Minsitry

In 1994 I met Ruben Israel, a member of a ministry called the Christian Patriots, out of San Diego, Cal. He was wearing a banner and marching up and down Canal Street with a bullhorn saying "Bible, Bible, Bible.... I approched and struck up a conversation with him and made his portrait. This would be the start of a regular event at Mardi Gras, and I make his photo every year. Over the years I have developed a great deal of respect for Ruben and his group. These people are sometimes too easily dismissed, but are very committed to their beliefs and work hard at it. I have seen this group over the years go from a mixed, unorganized bunch to a large and co-ordinated sub-culture that are now very much part of the street scene.

Ruben preaching 2004<$ > Ruben 2003 Ruben Israel, Christian Patriot Christ visits the French Quarter, Mardi Gras 1996 Acts 16:31, Canal Street, Mardi Gras Canal Street, Mardi Gras 2003 Check out my guide to New Orleans and Mardi Gras send E mail comments to Stan all images copyright Stan Strembicki