Katrina Tour with Dian Silva

This tour was the only guided city tour I have ever been on. It was very interesting to listen to Dian Silva, who was also the bus driver, talk about her first hand, before and after experience with Katrina. She grew up in New Orleans and has lived here her whole life, so she knew what she was talking about. Fortunately, she wasn't just some random hired person, which made it even more advantageous for us. We traveled to see all the important places that were affected by the flooding. It was really heart wrenching to see all of the destruction and all the homes, businesses, schools, police stations, and firehouses still not repaired to this day. However, it was very inspiring to see some people that have returned and fully restored their homes. We drove past one man's home that he had repaired himself, and he was sitting out front waving and smiling at us as we past. It was the worst when we were driving by the 9th Ward. It is really hard sometimes to not think like a photographer or artist and see beauty in anything, like this destruction. I think in our case it is ok because we don't have bad intentions when taking the photos. Like in the film The True Meaning of Pictures with Shelby Lee Adams, he had this intent to show the beauty in something that is normally not known as beautiful. Like the music here, bringing the city to life and invoking hope, I hope my photos do the same, and not the opposite like some of Adams's photos did.