A Sense of Place: Part I

The Outer Banks Bar: December 2010
Formerly known as the Cajun Inn, this bar located in the lower mid-city section of New Orleans is one of the few structures still standing in a 25-city block area of town expropriated by the local government. Much of the surrounding community has been leveled in order to make way for an urban hospital complex. This local pub was one of the first to be rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina and since the disaster has continued as an architectural badge of honor for the community that surrounds it. As the demolition date nears, the local clientele mourned, but they did so in the local dialect. I was there for the symbolic funeral, for the mock coffin, the jazz band parading around the barren streets. The intensity of the ritual was weighted by glances and handshakes, pauses and sighs throughout the bar. The jukebox warmed up the crowd for the live band later that evening. Neighbors sang and danced as they came to terms with the loss of community, with the death of the abstract...embodied in those walls. Weeks after the funeral I keep thinking of the emotions and difficulties in burying the intangible...memories of survival, memories of place and kinship.

Click HERE to to view the gallery of photographs, then Click on the "slideshow" button in the upper right-hand corner for the best viewing option.
If you want to follow the fate of the community, you can do so through Brad Vogel's blog:
Inside the Footprint.