“Louisiana: Photographs by Stuart Klipper”
Panoramic color images of New Orleans and Southwest Louisiana
The city of New Orleans, as well as the country roads and bayou vistas of Southwest Louisiana are immortalized in “Louisiana: Photographs by Stuart Klipper,” opening Aug. 2, 2008, and running through Sept. 30, 2008 at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art/University of New Orleans.
Nationally renowned photographer Stuart Klipper has been traveling to Louisiana for more than 20 years, and during his sojourns Klipper documented the changing—and enduring—landscapes and city scenes he witnessed. The bayous, country roads, street-front eateries and stores, as well as industrial buildings in Southwest Louisiana create a contrasting, but unified picture of a region that continues to change and persevere. Images of New Orleans are particularly poignant, as many of the subjects, such as the Coliseum Theater and the St. Roch Market, have been either destroyed (the Coliseum by fire) or damaged (the Market by Hurricane Katrina) and are treasured memories of the city’s heritage—some of which is in danger of disappearing.
It’s the themes of permanence and change that has continuously infused Klipper’s work—including his noted photographs of Antarctica (he has visited six times), which were shown in 1991 at the Museum of Modern Art. He has also photographed the Outback of northern Australia, the deserts of Israel and the Sinai, the rain forests of Costa Rica, the Far North regions of Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard, Alaska and Lapland (where he photographed the area irradiated by the fallout from the Chernobyl disaster).
“Stuart Klipper’s panoramic photographs capture the artist’s love of the culture, the place and the people of Lousiana,” says Chief Curator David Houston, who organized the exhibition. “His unfailing eye captures the subtle nuance of a region known for its exotic landscape and funky urban culture.”
Born in 1941, this Bronx, N.Y. native graduated with a bachelor in arts in psychology from University of Michigan. Klipper currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Klipper’s photographs have been exhibited and are collected by at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center, International Center for Photography, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. He has also published Bearing South: Antarctica, At Sea.
Klipper will also be in New Orleans at the Ogden Museum for the opening of his exhibition on Aug. 2—White Linen Night—6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Summer Specials in honor of the Ogden’s 5th Anniversary!: $5 general admission (until Sept. 7, 2008); museum store discounts, and much more! Be sure to check the Ogden Web site: www.ogdenmuseum.org.
Museum hours are 11am-4pm Wednesday through Sunday and 6-8pm Thursday evenings for Ogden After Hours. Free to members, $5 general admission (June 14 to Sept. 7, 2008).