Images present LA coastal erosion at Ogden Museum in NO | Setting

In the center of a black and white {photograph}, a cow and a bull stand side-by-side flanked by dying timber and a warning signal: “Do not anchor or dredge.” Facing the digital camera, the cows look forward on the water round Venice, close to the underside of Plaquemines Parish the place the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico.

Photographer Virginia Hanusik took the picture in 2022, whereas on coastal advocate Richie Blink’s boat, the place Hanusik stated she’s “been a million times.” Like a lot of her work, the picture attracts collectively photos of the pure setting and artifical constructions to inform a narrative about Louisiana’s disappearing coast. The warning to not anchor is due to a crude oil pipeline underwater.

“I’m continuously curious about this relationship that Louisiana has with the natural world,” Hanusik stated. “How important the natural world is and prioritizing being outdoors and having such pride in the food and the landscape, yet there’s also an insidious side to the infrastructure.”

‘An ideal instance’

Three years after taking the {photograph} “Marsh Cows Near Venice,” the piece is one in all 9 photos by Hanusik included in “The Unending Stream: Chapter II,” the ultimate installment of a two-part exhibition on the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

The exhibition opened Sept. 25 and can run by March 15. The title of the showcase pays homage to Clarence John Laughlin, a Lake Charles-born surrealist and “one of the most important photographers to come out of New Orleans in the 20th century,” stated Richard McCabe, images curator on the museum. Laughlin’s piece of the identical identify, “The Unending Stream,” is housed on the Ogden.

The first chapter of “The Unending Stream” opened in March and closed final month. The exhibition showcases up to date photographers dwelling and dealing in New Orleans 20 years after Hurricane Katrina.

“I did not want it to be about the storm or disaster photographs,” McCabe stated.

Instead, he wished to function the “positive aspects” of the previous twenty years, significantly the function that the humanities have performed in revitalizing the area. Hanusik “is a perfect example of that,” McCabe stated.

Blending science and artwork

Originally from New York, Hanusik, 33, moved to New Orleans in 2014 and commenced engaged on water-related points at Propeller, a nonprofit enterprise incubator within the metropolis. She studied structure however began images close to the tip of her time in school. She expanded her creative follow by website visits to the coast with Propeller and particular person journeys she took to be taught extra in regards to the area. 

“It was really an organic way of blending these multiple interests of mine and worlds that I was working with,” Hanusik stated. “It all kind of ended up working together to build this larger body of work.”

To McCabe, the curator, Hanusik epitomizes the “brain gain” that the town has acquired since Katrina, “people who’ve come here, made it their home and made amazing artwork.” 

“She’s blending science and art together,” McCabe stated. 

One picture, “Tarping After Hurricane Ida,” gazes up alongside the facet of a broken home in Cocodrie, in Terrebonne Parish. Another {photograph}, “Lake Pontchartrain Levee on Hayne Boulevard,” foregrounds the safety wall between the branches of a tree and its shadow. 

Last yr, Hanusik printed her first ebook, “Into the Quiet and the Light: Water, Life and Land Loss in South Louisiana,” which facilities her images alongside the coast alongside a group of essays by students, artists and activists. One of the essays by advocate Imani Jacqueline Brown, a member of the environmental group RISE St. James, highlights the harm that the oil and gasoline trade has inflicted on Louisiana’s coast. 

“That’s really interesting to me, the juxtaposition between losing land yet supporting an industry that is actively destroying it,” Hanusik stated. 

Across the state, over 2,000 sq. miles of land has eroded within the final century. Studies have proven that the principle causes of the dramatic land loss have been the development of levees alongside the Mississippi River, oil and gasoline exercise and the digging of delivery channels which have sped erosion. Sea degree rise is projected to grow to be a rising issue within the many years forward. 

The broader exhibition

Hanusik’s images hardly ever consists of folks, regardless that the consequences of artifical actions are evident within the constructions and structure alongside the coast. At the brand new Ogden exhibition, Hanusik’s work is featured in the identical room as Casey Joiner’s photos, which embrace folks immersed in Southern landscapes.

“I think the work in that room really feeds off each other,” McCabe stated. 

Hanusik, Joiner and the opposite 4 artists discover themes together with reminiscence, time and place “while capturing the mysterious beauty of America’s most unique city,” an outline on the entrance of the exhibition states.

Eric Waters captures the tradition and dynamism of the town’s Black Mardi Gras Indians, whereas Giancarlo D’Agostaro chronicles the “subtle and quieter moments” of Mardi Gras parades by haunting black and white photos. In distinction, Clint Maedgen, a photographer {and professional} musician, makes use of coloration to impress a way of pleasure and playfulness. And Steve Pyke engages with Louisiana landscapes by placing pictures of the Couterie Forest in City Park.

For Hanusik, her experiences alongside the coast are persevering with to tell her ongoing physique of labor. The artist just lately began her second and ultimate yr of a graduate images program in Rhode Island, which has sparked curiosity on the methods trade in Louisiana impacts different areas. Still, she envisions herself returning to her chosen house. 

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to leave Louisiana for that long,” she stated.