William Greiner Blogs* Katrina

William Greiner Blogs* Katrina

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*a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the photographer/writer.

William Greiner has been a long- time resident of New Orleans. As a photographer he has embraced the city and portrayed it as a unique cultural axis with both a southern and northern blend. His well-regarded book from 1999, The Reposed chronicled the graveyards of the region around New Orleans. His images of elevated tombs, vaults, and mausoleums were rendered with colorful hues and a hint of irony. This collection of pictures were not just about the graves, but also about the lives and values of the people who inhabit and visit them.

After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, in October of 2005 Greiner took to writing about and photographing the city as a means of making some sense of what had occurred and how to set about moving ahead. His blog (Web log) contains ongoing reflections and an almost daily scorecard of how the media and the government has proceeded with coverage and assistance to a city changed forever. This exhibition is the first time that the artist has agreed to share the images in an aesthetic context. By his own admission, Greiner never intended the photographs to be more than documents of his journey. Yet the 30 images presented are much more than snapshots or documentary evidence.

The exhibition consists of the images as well as the blog and a message board allowing viewers to respond, reflect and critique the disaster and the implications. William Greiner’s Blog can be accessed at: http://fotoarttoo.blogspot.com/