A Culture of Corruption

© Kathleen Flynn

I once viewed this administration as merely incompetent. Now, in their every scandal, I see the calculating and pathological actions of a criminal. From the Washington Post:

FEMA Knew Of Toxic Gas In Trailers
The Federal Emergency Management Agency since early 2006 has suppressed warnings from its own field workers about health problems experienced by hurricane victims living in government-provided trailers with levels of a toxic chemical 75 times the recommended maximum for U.S. workers, congressional lawmakers said yesterday.

A trail of e-mails obtained by investigators shows that the agency's lawyers rejected a proposal for systematic testing of the levels of potentially cancer-causing formaldehyde gas in the trailers, out of concern that the agency would be legally liable for any hazards or health problems. As many as 120,000 families displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita lived in the suspect trailers, and hundreds have complained of ill effects.

On June 16, 2006, three months after reports of the hazards surfaced and a month after a trailer resident sued the agency, a FEMA logistics expert wrote that the agency's Office of General Counsel "has advised that we do not do testing, which would imply FEMA's ownership of this issue." A FEMA lawyer, Patrick Preston, wrote on June 15: "Do not initiate any testing until we give the OK. . . . Once you get results and should they indicate some problem, the clock is running on our duty to respond to them."

FEMA tested no occupied trailers after March 2006, when it initially discovered formaldehyde levels at 75 times the U.S.-recommended workplace safety threshold and relocated a south Mississippi couple expecting their second child, the documents indicate. Formaldehyde, a common wood preservative used in construction materials such as particle board, can cause vision and respiratory problems; long-term exposure has been linked to cancer and higher rates of asthma, bronchitis and allergies in children.

One man in Slidell, La., was found dead in his trailer on June 27, 2006, after complaining about the formaldehyde fumes. In a conference call about the death, 28 officials from six agencies recommended that the circumstances be investigated and trailer air quality be subjected to independent testing. But FEMA lawyers rejected the suggestions, with one, Adrian Sevier, cautioning that further investigation not approved by lawyers "could seriously undermine the Agency's position" in litigation.

Tastykakes and Gumbo

© Zoe Strauss

Saturday we hit up Chelsea to see Kelli Connell's show at Yossi Milo and Elijah Gowin at Robert Mann. Great stuff, but we were really just biding our time waiting for the main event: Zoe Strauss' big solo show, If You Reading This, at Silverstein Gallery.

Zoe's prints looked great and the images were all very strong. And, there was a decidedly un-Chelsea feel to the festivities. It was fun to see stuffy matrons of the New York art scene leafing through the $5 print bin like a DJ diggin' for vinyl at a thriftstore. There were even Tastykakes for everyone.

The highlight was finally getting to meet Zoe in person. What a superstar. She has an energy and spirit about her that is so completely infectious and an authenticity that is a rare commodity these days. Congrats on the show, Zoe!

Do You Know What It Means launch party

Saturday was a tough go because we were still feeling slightly crapulent after the Friday launch party for Do You Know What It Means and the subsequent after-party that got us back to Jackson Heights at 4 AM. The event was a big success and I want to thank everyone who made it over to the SVA to share in the launch and the delicious gumbo.

Benefit for Do You Know What It Means Project

As some of you may know, I have spent the past year working as Executive Director of the Do You Know What It Means project. A good chunk of that time was spent in New Orleans collecting thousands of photographs and interviewing hundreds of community members to get the project up and running. The mission of the project is to use those photos and stories to create a permanent record of life before Katrina. You can learn more about Do You Know What It Means here.

This Friday, May 18, we are officially launching the Web site and the public archive and I invite you to join me for a special evening in support the project.

The evening includes a screening of New Orleans: The Natural History by New Orleans filmmaker, activist, and creator of Mr. Bill, Walter Williams and an exhibition of images collected from the archive. Oh, and there will be gumbo made by Charles Traub himself!

Here are the details:

Friday, May 18 @ 7 PM
School of Visual Arts Amphitheater
209 East 23rd Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10010
Admission: $7 (cash only, please)

Please make it if you can. If you can't attend and would still like to support the project, you are in luck. You can make a donation online or via snail mail.

I'm Going Back to New York City...

After a month straight in New Orleans and three plus months working on the Do You Know What It Means Project, I have finally come home to New York. I met so many wonderful people in the Big Easy who are trying hard to put the pieces of their lives back together, but there is still so much work to be done. Here's one thing you can do right now. The FEMA deadline for housing assistance is expiring on February 28. Please take action and tell your rep to extend the deadline.

I will write more about my time in New Orleans later, but will leave you with some photos from the Shangri-la Coronation Ball I attended this past Saturday. The ball is put on each year by the The Mystic Krewe of Shangri-La to eat, drink, and name their royal court for Mardi Gras. New Orleans is like no other place on earth.

The Captain © Amy Stein 2007

The King © Amy Stein 2007

The Queen © Amy Stein 2007

New Orleans, I'll Be There

Leaving tomorrow morning for a month in New Orleans to continue work on the Do You Know What It Means project. I think this will be the final push and then I can get back to being a full time photographer. While I am down there I am going to take a couple of long road trips through east Texas and Mississippi to continue work on the Stranded project.

I'll drink you under the table
be red nose go for walks
the old haunts what I wants
is red beans and rice
and wear the dress I like so well
and meet me at the old saloon
make sure there's a Dixie moon
New Orleans, I'll be there

-Tom Waits, I Wish I Was in New Orleans

Heckuva Job, George

© Rick Wood

This Wednesday I will be traveling back to New Orleans to continue my work with the Do You Know What It Means project. I love everything about New Orleans, so I was taken aback when I came across this troubling bit of news in the Saturday Times-Picayune:

St. Paul Travelers Cos. Inc., Louisiana's largest commercial insurance provider, plans to cancel all its commercial property policies in the New Orleans area next year, sparking fears that other insurers will follow and slow the region's economic recovery...

State Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon, who was tipped off about Travelers' plans Wednesday night by the Business Council of New Orleans and the River Region, said he was stunned by the news. When he met with Travelers on Thursday, he was equally stunned by the stated reason for the company's retrenchment.

"They cited the state of the rebuilding of our levee system as the primary reason for their decision," Donelon said.

This is a devastating turn of events for a city and a community that was just beginning to embrace a cautious optimism about their future. That the levees are not reliable should come as no surprise given the White House's own ironically triumphant assessment that "today, almost the entire flood protection system around New Orleans has been restored to its pre-Katrina level."

Back in NOLA

© Frank Relle

After a whirlwind weekend home in the NYC, I am back in New Orleans working on the Do You Know What It Means project. I had to make the trip to home to attend a wedding and host a "meet the artist" gathering of The Contemporaries in my studio. I love New York to death, but I am beginning to love leaving it more.

New Orleans is an amazing place. The spirit of the city and its inhabitants slowly envelopes you. As you spend more time in the city, speaking with people, wandering through the neighborhoods, tasting the delicious food and taking in the stunning architecture you feel as if you are immersed in a warm soup. I’ve met some amazing people down here. Last week I had dinner at the house of Vanessa and Jeff Louviere, really nice people and talented artists. Ever since I first saw their work at Brian Clamp’s gallery early this summer I’ve been a fan of their eerie and evocative approach to photography.

Another photographer, Frank Relle, has generously driven me all over the city to survey the devastation and search for participants for Do You Know What it Means. In addition to being a great guy Frank is a thoughtful and intelligent photographer. His images of New Orleans houses at night are simply stunning. As anyone who follows the contemporary photography scene knows, dozens of photographers have stampeded through the city since Katrina taking very similar pictures of debris and destroyed and abandoned houses. MAO recently posted an amusing and dead on take on the glut of Katrina images. Frank’s work rises above those attempts. He’s also a class act. Please check out his images if you are not already familiar with them.

New Orleans... Do You Know What It Means?

In June of this year my husband and I flew to New Orleans to begin the southern leg of my Stranded series. The series was inspired in part by the live TV images of desperate people stranded on their roof tops in the hours and days following Katrina. We did a six day loop through Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee and I was moved by the scale of the tragedy and the individual stories of lives upended. During our trip I developed a strong connection to that part of the country and to the generous people trying hard just to get back to normal.

When I returned to New York and talked with friends I struggled to communicate the extent of the damage. I would say things like, "think of the biggest natural disaster you've seen and then multiply it by a hundred." Beyond the destruction and tragedy, I also struggled to communicate the strength and resolve of the people I met, the profound sense of community, and the still vibrant cultural imprint within the affected areas. After seeing the photos of Polidori, Jordon, Epstein, Wilkes, Alt, et al. that detail the aftermath of the hurricane and flood on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast I had a strong fear that these images of ruin could become the prevailing and lasting memory of the community and people that were, and remain, the cultural soul of this country.

Switch to six months later...

I have taken a few months off from my photography to go back to New Orleans and coordinate the Do You Know What It Means project. DYKWIM is a web based initiative to document and archive pre-Katrina life in the Crescent City. Charles Traub, co-founder of the project, has done an amazing job making this a true collaborative effort bringing together the School of Visual Arts (my alma mater), the SVA Alumni Society, the Historic New Orleans Collection, the National Park Service, George Mason’s Center for History and New Media, the University of New Orleans, and too many others to mention. We will focus on the most effected areas of the city, both residential and commercial, in an effort to recreate and rebuild community in areas devastated by the hurricane and flood. The project will collect and archive old images, family snapshots, video footage, and documents that describe and celebrate everyday life in New Orleans before Katrina. The hope is the archive will result in a virtual representation of New Orleans that will in turn help bring a scattered community back together

I urge you to learn more about the project and get involved if you can.

UPDATE: From the department of like minds... Over at Conscientious, Joerg Colberg ponders the impact of the recent spate of post-Katrina fine art photos.