NEW ORLEANS (press release) – Drawn largely from the holdings he helped assemble over a four-decade career as one of America’s leading photographic curators, John H. Lawrence’s new “Louisiana Lens: Photographs from The Historic New Orleans Collection” traces the development of the art form from early daguerreotype to digital. Much more than a technical primer on a medium’s transformation through time, Lawrence’s text frames each of the “Louisiana Lens” images in its social and cultural context, resulting in an illustrated history of the people and places that define New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf South.
“Lawrence’s knowledge of New Orleans culture is encyclopedic,” writes Jeff L. Rosenheim, of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in the book’s forward. “His memory for fascinating if obscure facts is remarkable, his passion for visual culture intoxicating. In aggregate, his understanding of the city is the essential subject of this new publication.”
Whether offering insight into a photograph’s composition or sharing his firsthand knowledge of the photographers themselves, Lawrence brings a keen perspective honed by his years of curatorial work. In surveying the images in “Louisiana Lens,” Lawrence touches on themes of architecture, music, commerce, race, arts and culture, and the changing landscapes of the American South.
A hardcover volume of 288 pages with a Nov. 1 publication date, “Louisiana Lens: Photographs from The Historic New Orleans Collection” contains 131 black-and-white and 44 color images. Its price is $49.95 and it may be purchased online and in person at The Shop at The Collection, The Historic New Orleans Collection’s (THNOC) museum store. Visit hnoc.org/ourbooks or shophnoc.com to learn more and purchase.
A New Orleans native, Lawrence worked at THNOC for more than four decades before retiring as director of museum programs in 2020. Lawrence has written and lectured widely about aspects of contemporary and historical photography as well as the administration and preservation of pictorial collections.
Rosenheim is the Joyce Frank Menschel Curator in Charge of the Department of Photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A specialist in American photography, he has authored or coauthored more than 20 books and has lectured widely on the history of photography and studio art.
On Dec. 13, Lawrence and Rosenheim will discuss “Louisiana Lens” at the Jules L. Cahn Annual John H. Lawrence Photography Lecture. The lecture and a following reception, both to be held at THNOC, will serve as the kickoff event of the New Orleans Photo Alliance’s annual PhotoNOLA festival celebrating photography in New Orleans.
To learn more about “Louisiana Lens” visit hnoc.org.
