Photo by Claire Bangser
For a little over two months now, I have made a daily practice of approaching complete strangers on the streets of New Orleans, taking their photo (with permission), and asking them personal questions about their lives. These photographs become part of NOLAbeings, a portrait and storytelling project of mine inspired by Brandon Stanton’s own project, called “Humans of New York.” At its most fundamental level, I post a photo and quote from one person every day. The photos are raw, straightforward, and unromantic. The quotes are presented verbatim and are intended to add depth to the portraits so that the viewer learns something about the person not evident on the surface. Through sharing these stories, I hope to bring viewers out of their own bubbles and help break down stereotypes and biases.
For this Country Roads assignment, I was challenged to create a NOLAbeings-style photo series featuring people sitting on their front porches and stoops and in their yards. I quickly learned that a front porch is a very delicate threshold between private and public space. It is the literal ground between the solitude of our hand-crafted environments and the unpredictable spontaneity of the external environment. While there were many porch-dwellers eager to talk, there were just as many who considered themselves still in “home mode”—not ready for socializing and certainly not ready to be photographed for a magazine.
The questions I asked were based loosely around the concept of “home.” In South Louisiana, not surprisingly, these types of questions often led to in-depth discussions about Hurricane Katrina and gentrification. With New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast changing rapidly due to land loss, there was also a sense of sentimentality and impermanence.
Meet some of my favorite porch dwellers here, and meet other NOLAbeings daily by joining the community on Instagram (@nolabeings), Facebook (facebook.com/nolabeings) or NOLAbeings.com.
—Claire Bangser
LANDRY LADIES - CENTRAL CITY, NEW ORLEANS What does this home mean to you?
“Everything. You have second lines, you have Mardi Gras, you have Indians. Our great grandmother—this is her house. She had two children—a son and a daughter. These are her son’s and her daughter’s children.”
How many people live here?
“A lot. The whole neighborhood. It’s just two people living in this house, but it’s a family home. Everybody comes here Sundays and holidays. We sit out here every day ‘til, like, midnight! We see the sights. We just see everybody who live here. We grew up here, so everybody pass back and they know we going to be here. If they looking to find us they know somebody going to be here. Always. If anybody come hungry, they can eat. They can always eat a hot meal.”
What’s the best meal you cook?
“Gumbo!”
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MS. SELINA & MR. JOSEPH (JOSIE) — YSCLOSKEY, LA.
“My husband’s building that boat right there. This home, my husband and his daddy built it in ‘48. In ‘48, they started building it. We had water in it three times already because it was low, you know? But then [during] Katrina it went way over there by that tree way over in my neighbor’s yard, 350 feet! So my husband wanted it, and the insurance company said it was fixable—you know they came and they sent a man out here. He said ‘Yeah, if you want your house you can [rebuild],’ you know? So we had just a shell [of a house]. And they brought it back by truck. We had volunteers help us too. We had a man that fixed all the pipes for us, ‘cause the pipes alone cost eleven thousand dollars. Then the guy did the work for nothing.”
What made you want to come back here after Katrina?
“My husband wanted to come back! We stayed on a fishing boat for six months after the storm! We lived on a fishing boat! I couldn’t even get me a trailer. I went over there—I was mad the last time. They brought a trailer to somebody who doesn’t even live down here. She lives in a home—you know one of those fancy homes? I got mad. I went over there, I was pounding like this on the table, and I said ‘Y’all bring me a trailer, and I ain’t comin’ back no mo!’ She said ‘You got to go to a counselor.’ They brought me to a counselor—I said ‘Look, I don’t need you! I need a trailer!’ I said ‘I don’t need counseling—I’ve been living on a fishing boat! And you want to tell me I need counseling?’ I went down seven times begging for a trailer.”
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LOUIS HARDING (WITH TYRONE TYLER ON THE RIGHT) — BROADMOOR, NEW ORLEANS
What does this home mean to you?
“It’s been more or less difficult because I’ve been out of place...not as comfortable as I was when I was living next door. I had a better house, better yard, better situation. Katrina just messed it up with all the water we had around here. We had at least nine or ten feet of water in this community. I live here by myself; I’m single. Basically when I’m home I’m sleeping because I’m more on the streets. I’m a street person. I like doing mentoring. I like working deep in the community. So when I’m off, I’m home. We are into crime prevention and trying to help the youth in the community. We deal with black history, black studies, you know, letting the children and the people know who they are. The average African-American person—we don’t know who we are. We don’t know our history. So that’s what I deal with—black history and black studies.”
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COLIN AND KELLY — MARIGNY, NEW ORLEANS
“Usually sitting here revolves around food—breakfast and lunch are usually eaten on the stoop—and cats. If you sit out long enough, you can feed them some of your food. Usually we talk about [our] place in the world: how do you fit in? Because Bywater’s really interesting. [Colin’s] neighbor has lived in Bywater his whole life and has seen it transition quite a bit. We talk about what it means for our presence to be here and how it changes the environment and how—do you resist change or do you not resist that change? You’re part of it because you’re in it, and at the same time you may not be agreeing with the change. But you are part of it so it’s impossible to separate yourself from that.”
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KIDS IN VIOLET, LA.
What’s your favorite thing about your house?
“It’s funny.”
“I like to play with baby dolls in my house.”
“I like to kick it down!”
“We got, like, fourteen or sixteen people come here. Friends and cousins and brothers and sisters.”
“We have play fights.”
“Jump on the trampoline!”
“Play football!”
“I like to play barbie doll games and dress up games. And do cheerleaders and dance teams and stuff.”
“I like apples, oranges, bananas, and that’s it.”
