[Leica] FW: Photojournalists Covering Katrina Fall Victim To Growing Violence, Chaos

[ahgraves at prodigy.net (Allen Graves)]

When I was in college in N.O. in the mid-70's and taking a 
photography class, we were constantly warded about the dangers of 
going into certain parts of town showing any camera equipment-even an 
instamatic. I can remember stories of several tourists being killed 
in St. Louis No. 2 cemetery while taking pictures. And this was back 
when all the thugs had were .25's and .32 autos. In the last 30 
years, the level of violence has just gotten much worse as their 
firearms have gotten better. If I was going outside the safer areas 
of N.O., I just left my cameras at home.

I think everyone in New Orleans has feared that these thugs would 
find some way to spread their violence across the city and, 
unfortunately, Katrina gave them that chance.

Allen

On a lighter note,  few years back, one of my friends was walking up 
Magazine Street to his apartment and got mugged -for the pizza he was 
carrying. His only comment was that it" happened between Harmony St. 
and Pleasant St. - Where else but New Orleans!"




>The Ward Gangs in N.O. are heavily armed, always have been. We're 
>talking AK-47s, Uzis, etc. They do not care for human lives. Even 
>before this photographers would be risking their lives going into 
>project areas. I've seen coroner photos for years in New Orleans.
>
>It's not worth it to risk your life down there. Though I feel sorry 
>for the vast majority of poor still stuck in New Orleans, these 
>project people are not worth it. Just like in Iraq, the only way to 
>get rid of insurgency is to kill them, or get out and save yourself.
>
>Even the NOPD friends I know would kill them given the chance. And 
>these are black friends saying this.
>
>Chris
>New Orleans
>