My First Trip to New Orleans

1/21/2007 8:50 PM

A little over a year ago I made my first trip to New Orleans Louisiana. Like most, I had all the preconceived misconceptions about the Crescent City. I had always heard much about the crazy parties, the historical French quarter, and the high crime, but this wasn’t the city that I was going to see. The city that I saw was almost entirely an empty shell. It was in a state of destruction that I had never encountered in my life. The city was not there, only artifacts gave testament to the once bustling communities. I was in New Orleans to attend a conference at Tulane University about how to re-build and re-inhabit the city, while many around the country questioned whether it should be rebuilt or not. As I walked the streets I was completely overwhelmed by the extent of the destruction and the scope of the rebuilding effort, if it was to happen. Many argued about how the city should be rebuilt, which made sense, but there were those who questioned IF it should be rebuilt. This confused and disgusted me. How could we ignore such a tragedy and not rebuild such a historically and culturally important city? Touring the city I was able to take many pictures. The images that follow are only a record of some of the destruction, as it remained a few months after the storm. While so much can be said with a photograph, much is missed. These snapshots are merely scenes of destruction; hardly true representations of the extent of loss.

Jared Hueter