There was no choice. If I was going to continue to photograph trees I had to do something different. So I went out at night. More about technique in the right hand column.
Let’s talk about the Coronavirus. We who live in Louisiana are in a hot spot. Luckily, New Orleans is will under the minimal acceptable percentage of Infected people v total population.
That number is 0.05%. We are at 0.015% That’s the good news. The bad news is that infections per capita are rising in NOLA.
The governor closed a lot of service businesses, or at least returned to the old phase two numbers. If we are forced to do this in New Orleans it may just about kill the city.
We are a city of small businesses. When I first arrived here, there were mom and pop grocery stores seemingly on every other corner. That’s changed. I’m not sure how many are left. Very few, I think.
New Orleans always recovers. For the most part we came back from the damage caused by Hurricane. I say for the most part because the poorest areas of town, like the Lower 9th Ward are still in shambles.
We’ve come back from other hurricanes, fires that burned most of The French Quarter when it was the city.
We’ve come back from other pandemics.
But, this one could hurt us. I wonder how the new gentrifiers are going to react. They don’t have the stubbornness and creativity of people who are from here, or have been here for a long while.
When the pandemic is finally managed to a point where we can live with it will they say the hell with it and just leave?
I have no idea.
I wouldn’t leave. Where are you going to go? While it’s true that we are seriously talking about leaving it has nothing to do with fleeing.
It may just be time.
Night time is the right time, so the song goes. I’ve made a big part of my career by working at night.
I’m in a photographic draught. My normal routines and techniques for breaking that don’t work.
A friend of mine said in an email that we are in a general malaise because of the virus, the politics of the country and maybe even fear of climate change.
I’m fairly sure that normally he is a Republican and is certainly more conservative than I. Even he is happy with the presidential change.
That may help free me.
But, I have to do something. So I took a short walk in the early evening.
I made this picture of a tree at night. It is illuminated by a streetlight.
It wasn’t hard to do. I sat on a park bench and hand held the phone. I’ve been getting away with that for years.
So. Nighttime in New Orleans.
Stay safe. Stay mighty. Wear your mask. Keep your distance. Wash your hands. Look after each other. Enjoy every bit of turkey.
STORYTELLER 
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