With the focus on the anniversary of Katrina this week it is the perfect time to note the availability of SIGNS OF LIFE: SURVIVING KATRINA. More information on the work – “an Extraordinary Photographic Collection of Survival: One Sign at a Time” – can be found on the website. Here is a brief description :
Signs of Life is a moving collection of photos of the hand-made signs that appeared in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. Profits from sales of the book will go to two organizations still working in the area: Common Ground Relief and Hands On Network.
Hand-made signs—spray painted on houses, on cars, on refrigerators—were some of the first “signs of life” to appear after the flood waters receded. The signs range from the sacred to the profane, from defiant to defeated, from frightening and encouraging. The signs reveal a powerful story of those who survived the deluge.
Compiled by Eric Harvey Brown and Lori Baker, New York-based photographers and writers who volunteered in the Gulf Coast after the hurricane, Signs of Life shows not only the traces of the violence of the storm, but also that much devastation remains one year later. The pictures in Signs of Life come from more than forty photographers— including local residents, relief volunteers, and those just passing through. The images were found on flickr.com and other photoblogs, and have been donated by the photographers for use in the book.
Sounds like a fascinating book put together by a valuable organization.