Previous | Next :: Katrina floods, New Orleans | March 24, 2007, 8:41 am

It would seem that Jez has gone quiet again, so I'm posting this image on his behalf. It's one that Jez shot in New Orleans a few days after Katrina hit, and it's pretty amazing if I do say.

Getting him there was an adventure that came about after a phone conversation at 2 'o' clock on the morning Katrina hit. We decided that he had to be there to cover the story, the only problem was that when I looked into it there were no planes landing anywhere near the area and even if he could fly down to the Gulf Coast, there were no cars to be rented as they'd all been taken by the evacuees. So Jez flew to Atlanta and we drove, stocking up on petrol cans, dried food and bottled water along the way. There were obviously no hotel rooms in NO, so we slept in the car with 20 gallons of Petrol and brushed our teeth with Evian water... high times!

It was my first experience of anything like that, and it was the most surreal experience. The city was like a ghost town by the time everyone had been evacuated. That is, except for a few straglers, troops and releif workers, including the Salvation Army who used a set of Jez's images to produce a book called "When The Winds Died Down" which tells the story of Katrina and thanks all who offered help with the relief effort.

I hope you approve of the image Jez.

Matt :)