Jim Belfon passed away this weekend surrounded by family, friends and loved ones.
In his short time here in New Orleans he established the Gulf South Photography Project which has taught free photography workshops to more than 1200 young people and senior citizens. To help New Orleans recover from the devastation following Katrina,he provided residents who lost priceless family momentos with more than 14,000 individual and family portraits.
During Jim’s active career, he worked and studied with the likes of James Van Der Zee, Gordon Parks and Richard Avedon. His work has appeared in Time Magazine, Essence, Sports Illustrated, Architectural Digest, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times.
Twenty-five years ago, he created the Photographic Center of Harlem where he taught photography to children and senior citizens in NYC at Harlem School Of The Arts, Central Park East School, St. James Senior Citizen Center, and New Song Community Church. Over its history, the Center served more than 5,000 children and senior citizens in the Greater New York City area.
The memorial service for Jim Belfon is set for this Saturday, March 29th at 1pm at Christian Unity Baptist Church, 1700 Conti Street, New Orleans, La. A repast will follow.
Thank you for your support to Jim and his family.