Disgust

Copyright 2015 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

In a world with so many choices for what to read, I am not at all sure why anyone would read a post entitled “Disgust”.  However, that word summarizes my feeling after this morning’s walk.  “Outrage” would be another.

Copyright 2015 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

I went back to Morgan Run, which is a place I usually find quite enjoyable.  Yes, there was the expected trash one finds on most Sunday mornings.

Copyright 2015 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

Interestingly, this morning’s rubbish was on top of the sign forbidding alcoholic beverages.  That perhaps is a message in itself.

Copyright 2015 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

There was also the requisite collection of mis-matched, single, flip-flops.  Somewhere in the ‘verse there are a great many flip-flops looking for their mates-not at all unlike the single gloves I photographed at the close of last winter.

All of that can easily be removed.

Copyright 2015 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

No, the disgust comes from the graffiti that now covers the rocks.  Some of this appears to have been done with sidewalk chalk and others appear to be paint.  In either case, it will not easily come off and is quite unsightly.  In fact, if you are easily offended by profanity and some forms of trash, do not continue reading.  (Yes, this is a trigger warning.)

Storm Surge

Copyright 2015 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

Barring any additional need, this will be the last post regarding the anniversary of Katrina.  That being said, Tropical Storm Erika is churning in the Caribbean and has killed at least 4 people in Dominica.  While her impact on the U.S. has yet to be determined, and the current prediction does not have Erika becoming a hurricane, Florida has already declared a state of emergency in advance of the storm.  Such declarations and emergency preparedness are a legacy of Katrina.

The peaceful tranquility of the sunrise over the water depicted above is from one of the marinas in Baltimore, Md-specifically, Fells Point.  This is a nice place to sit, drink a cup of coffee, and watch the morning unfold.  It is also here as a reminder that if such a storm surge as occurred with Katrina came up the Chesapeake, this area, and the rest of Baltimore’s upscale Inner Harbour, would be under water.  Hurricanes have caused flooding and damage in the city before, and such an event becomes even more likely as the oceans continue to rise as a result of climate change.  The increasing sea levels and warming water temperatures that lead to stronger storms factor into yet another of Katrina’s legacies.  As Louisiana drained and developed the coastal wetlands, the natural means by which to absorb storm surge was eliminated.  The Baltimore City area has no such wetlands to begin with and the built environ literally meets the water, as described in this article from 1997.

It certainly is, however, a nice place to greet a calm, relatively cool, summer day.

Take care.

Recovery

Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

While reading the responses to articles about the anniversary of Katrina and New Orleans, there were several from residents of the city who were stating that they found the attention to be too much of a reminder of what happened 10 years ago.  That is a point well taken.

Back in my chemical dependency counselor days, we used to talk about “environmental cues,” which is a term referring to being in the same or similar places or doing similar activities that served as powerful reminders of drug use.  For example, for someone with a history of smoking cocaine, using a lighter to ignite a cigarette could be an environmental cue.  The result could be an “evoked craving”-the powerful urge to use the drug.  A similar process occurs with some combat veterans who experience Post Traumatic Stress.  Fireworks on the 4th of July, for example, can be difficult due to the concussive sound and bright explosions, both of which may serve to exacerbate the experience of war.  All of this has its roots in the manner by which the brain stores memories.  One fundamental way to cope with this is to avoid the situations containing the problematic stimulus.

In popular culture, the term that appears to be used for the same concept is “trigger warnings”.  That is, when about to discuss information that may be disturbing to some, an announcement is made about the nature of the content so that individuals can be prepared or make the decision to step out from the presentation.  The concern is that the content will “trigger” the recall and subjective re-experiencing of a painful event.  I listen to National Public Radio a lot and, with some degree of frequency, listeners are advised that difficult material is about to be discussed.  The warning, in turn, gives the audience the opportunity to change the station or lower the volume if so needed.

(C) Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

And so it also goes with Katrina and New Orleans.  This 10-year anniversary certainly must be a difficult time for many as the videos, photographs, and stories are presented.  There is a concept in photography called “disaster porn” or “ruin porn”. This refers to the stimulation that comes from viewing destruction and human suffering.  For example, in the aftermath of Katrina, there were bus companies that organized tours of the city so folks could ride in air-conditioned comfort while viewing the aftermath.  There is a scene in the first season of HBO’s Treme where a bus stops by a group mourning the death of friend and there are camera flashes firing through the windows as people are taking pictures of the grieving.  The issue here is one of disrespect and exploitation as driving through, taking a picture, and then leaving does no service to the community.

Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

On the other hand, without photographs and testimony, the power of the experience would have been lost.  The difference between exploitation and understanding is time-taking the time to learn about the history; taking the time to talk with the people who were directly affected; and taking the time to help with the recovery.  As many have said, Katrina, the hurricane, was a natural disaster.  Katrina, the flood, was a man-made catastrophe.  Therein lies a significant difference, and understanding those circumstances, especially as they were experienced by those in New Orleans East or the Lower 9, is incredibly important.  The images in these last few posts have been used as part of the content in Sociology and Psychology classes as it is necessary to understand the historical and cultural circumstances that allowed Katrina to be what she was.  I have no idea how many people who experienced the storm read these posts and most certainly my intention is not to exacerbate any traumatic memories.  I do get very concerned that we sometimes have very short memories and we sometimes were not informed enough to have a memory to forget.

The culture that created Katrina, the catastrophe, still exists.

Fortunately, the culture that has allowed parts of the city to rebound also exists.  Perhaps not so coincidentally, The Diane Rehm Show broadcast this discussion about the nature of resilience a few days ago.  It is worth a listen as the science of recovery from trauma is explained as are the steps one can take to cope with traumatic experiences.  One of those steps is to become active in the building of community.  The photograph at the top of this post is from the Musician’s Village, which was an effort created by Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr. and New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity.  Please do use the link to read more about this important project.  Thousands of volunteers from across the country went to New Orleans to assist in whatever way possible.  I consider myself fortunate to have had that opportunity.

Take care.

 

 

Katrina X

(C) Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

I have been working my way through Gary Rivlin’s Katrina: After the Flood, and on page 127 he refers to the markings left on houses after they were searched for damage and/or bodies as the “Katrina X”.  The photograph above was taken in the Lower 9th Ward.

The number in the 12 o’clock position is the date the house was searched.  The letters in the 3 o’clock position reference any hazards within the structure-my understanding is that “NE” stands for “none evident”.  The space in the 6 o’clock position identifies the number of bodies found-in this case, the space is empty so one could presume that there were no bodies found in this home.  Finally, the letters/numbers in the 9 o’clock position reflect the team completing the search.

The date the house was searched is important:  9/16.  Hurricane Katrina hit on 8/29, so it was over two weeks before this particular house was searched.  Given that it took weeks for the flood waters to be pumped out to allow the searches and that, according to Rivlin, “More than 100,000 homes in the city had been damaged, and most every business had been shuttered” (pg. 158), that date takes on added significance.

What I often forget, and really should not forget, is that Hurricane Rita followed Hurricane Katrina. Rivlin reports that the flooding in the Lower 9th was “as bad on September 24, the day after Rita, as it was on August 30, the day after Katrina” (pg. 127).

A few weeks ago, NPR had this report describing the current status of the Lower 9th Ward.  Please do give it a read and/or listen.

Take care.

More than NOLA

 

(C) Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

The photograph above was made in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans well after Hurricane Katrina had flooded the area.  Three years later, some had re-built-the houses in the background are part of Brad Pitt’s Make It Right effort-some had not.  The effects of Katrina on New Orleans both dominated the coverage at the time, and still appear to dominate the reportage of that storm.  However, another part of the legacy of Katrina is that she was big enough to have created wide-spread destruction throughout Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi as well as Louisiana.

To that end, please listen to and/or read this story about Bayou la Batre, which was broadcast on NPR this morning.  It is critical to remember and understand that the Gulf Coast was not only hammered by Katrina in 2005, but that the BP oil spill affected many of the same areas five years later.  The NPR report details how the effects of both continue to resonate.

Take care.

NOLA and Katrina

Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

We are edging ever closer to August 29th and there will be a few more thoughts shared about Katrina and the aftermath over the next few days.

Yesterday, I went to Barnes and Noble and purchased a copy of Katrina: After the Flood, which was mentioned in the last post.  While buying the book, one of the store managers and I had a brief discussion about Katrina-related books and he reminded me of one that is also worth a read and that I had not remembered when writing the last post:  Five Days at Memorial:  Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink.  This work focuses on the microcosm that was Memorial Medical Center and the events there immediately prior to, during, and after the storm.  Several years prior to the book being published, Ms. Fink wrote this article, which was published in The New York Times Magazine.   Following the publication of the book, Ms. Fink was interviewed by NPR.

Dr. Anna Pou, one of the Memorial Medical Center personnel that is central to the story of that hospital and Katrina, was interviewed by Morley Safer of CBS’ 60 Minutes.

While the book focuses mainly on the events involving this one hospital, what happened there highlights the larger issues of disaster preparedness and response (or lack thereof) as well as the ethics of patient care in such situations.  Such events, and there were others involving the care and deaths of patients in New Orleans involving other facilities, are another of the reasons Katrina has left such a legacy.

Take care.

 

August 2015

(C) Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

We have just passed the 70th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  John Hersey’s Hiroshima is a useful, classic, read.  Susan Southard’s Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War is available, although I have not as yet read it.  The debate over the efficacy of using those weapons continues as issues related to nuclear power and nuclear weaponry dominate current news.  Tsutomu Yamaguchi’s story is both poignant and compelling as it straddles these eras.

(C) Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

We are also coming up on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina-this post is not a comparison between that storm and the aforementioned bombings.  There is no argument to be made that both man and nature are capable of unleashing incredibly destructive forces.  It is the former, though, that has the capacity for rationale thought.

(C) Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

The photographs in this post were all made in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans during my trips there in 2008.  It is worth remembering that Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005.  These were made in January and December, 2008.

(C) Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

There has been many other storms, the 1900 hurricane that destroyed Galveston, Texas is an important example, but few have had the impact on the national conscience as has Katrina.

(C) Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

One could certainly argue that the changes in technology and media coverage have played a major part in this impact as there was no Internet or 24-hour, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year news coverage in 1900.

Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

That global media coverage was there as Katrina fully exposed the racial, socioeconomic, and political conditions that exist in the U.S.  Michael Eric Dyson’s Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster, Spike Lee’s When The Levees Broke, and Douglas Brinkley’s The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast are all important sources to understand these historical and cultural factors.  I am awaiting Gary Rivlin’s Katrina: After the Flood.

(C) Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

(C) Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

Earlier this month, The New York Times published “Is New Orleans Safe?” and this is worth a read as it updates the story and also looks back at the storm. It is also a very interesting counterpart to this National Geographic article that appeared in 2007.

(C) Copyright 2008 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

Roots do indeed run deep-those roots are the culture of a community, city, and/or country.  Embedded in culture are memories and the subsequent belief and value systems that arise from historical and current events and serve to shape the present and future.  The issues of race, wealth, and politics continue to dominate the news.  A key issue is what we do with that capacity for rational thinking.

It is important to remember.

And with regard to that, it is also vital to remember that memories are subject to a great many forces, trauma being a major factor-certainly for the issues described in this post, and the processes of consolidation and reconsolidation often make recall a highly subjective and fleeting experience.  Therefore, it is important (mandatory?) to access additional resources that allow for the movement from a purely subjective perspective to a larger, more objective analysis of an issue.  (This is one reason why there are so many links in this particular post.) That is, we need to add critical thinking to the process of rational thinking so as to not continue to see history repeating itself.

Take care.

Veterans

Copyright 2014 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

It is good to see improvement as this is a very important issue.

Take care.

 

 

Sun

 

Copyright 2015 Kevin P. Mick Photography. All rights reserved.

This photograph was made on a hot, muggy day and so provides quite a contrast to the foggy photographs from the previous post.  The direct sun creates strong highlights and deep shadows, which are critical elements for B&W photography.

Did I mention it was hot?  Still, it was a wonderful day to be in the mountains.

Take care.