Jazzland

Editor's note: To view more of Bolen's Jazzland photo series, click here.

Bolen’s specialty is the run-down or disappearing relics of urban life; his photographs are composed to emphasize the disquieting nature of desolation or abandonment, uncomfortably foreshadowing the possible demise of once-powerful, influential cities—think Rome, Detroit, ... Pompeii.

Insofar as any New World city can be considered old, New Orleans, Bolen’s hometown, would certainly qualify. And since Hurricane Katrina brought that city to its knees, large blocks of New Orleans are haunted by the not-so-distant past.

One such landmark—abandoned to the more urgent, post-Katrina agenda of re-establishing basic infrastructure and then to legal and insurance battles leading the lessee of the park, Six Flags, to pull out of New Orleans completely—is Jazzland, later named Six Flags New Orleans. The once-grand theme park was submerged in four feet of rain and seawater when the park’s drainage pumps failed as a result of Katrina. In Bolen’s photographs, the ghosts of August 2005 seem to haunt—even mock—the largesse and light-heartedness of the park.

Bolen, who is a still photographer in the film and television industry, was shooting on location at the park. He explained, “Having never been there before, I was immediately overtaken with its desolation and abandoned rides, as I had already previously documented abandoned homes right after Hurricane Katrina, and each year following for five years—so I was completely intrigued.”

He returned to the park later: “It was odd being at Jazzland both times, because there were actually quite a few people, especially considering it was abandoned and not exactly considered open to the public. There were couples walking around holding hands, there were some kids on bikes, and there were other photographers—everyone was just doing their own thing. It was as though everyone had bought a ticket to get in for the day and was still enjoying Jazzland!”

Bolen’s photographs are in public and private collections, among them the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, the Louisiana State Museum and the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland. View Bolen’s work at SkipBolenStudio.com and SkipBolen.com.