On Wednesday Nov. 20 at 5:30 p.m., author John Lawrence made a special appearance at 1204 Johnston Street for a presentation and signing of his new book titled Louisiana Lens, published by the Historic New Orleans Collection.
Lawrence’s book contains over a hundred pictures from various photographers along with brief descriptions of each one. The book attempts to piece together the history of Louisiana through photographs. He says the book “…can be thought about as a building block, not any final statement or finished product for the study of Louisiana’s photographic history.”
The cover of the book is a self-portrait of photographer George Dureau, who was a painter and photographer that lived in New Orleans, Louisiana for most of his life.
The event started off as guests found their seats and signed a guest book being passed around. A future event, where movies about Louisiana’s history would be shown, was announced and John Lawrence was introduced.
Lawrence began by thanking everyone who helped in the production of the book, saying that it was about an 18 month process by the end.
Having just retired at the end of the year 2020, Lawrence attributes much of his writing success to the COVID-19 pandemic as it gave him lots of time at home to work on his book. He says that he was greatly influenced by the books of photographer John Szarkowski in deciding how to format his own book.
The guests were told to view the screen placed in the front of the room, where Lawrence was showing two photographs. These two photos were the first and last pictures displayed in the book. After explaining the historical and geographical significance of these photos, the screen changed to a new photo.
Lawrence spent the next 45 minutes showing various photographs, naming the photographers responsible for each, and giving short explanations of the significance of each work. He highlighted many photographers throughout the presentation, such as Walker Evans, Isaac Monroe Cline, Todd Webb, Ralston Crawford and John Bernhard.
After the presentation concluded, Lawrence invited all the guests to ask any questions they had and to buy a copy of the book to have signed by him in the next room.
One woman in attendance, Debbie Fleming Caffery, actually had an original photograph from the 1970s in the book.
It was a photo of an old church with the deacon standing in the doorway. She described the picture and noted that “it was one of [her] favorite pictures.” She states that she remembers the day she took it every time she drove down the street where the photo was taken.
“Louisiana Lens” provides a wide scope of significant background throughout Louisiana’s history. From photographs of trees and nature to portraits of nuns and children, the pictures in the book build a foundation for learning where this region’s culture and livelihood really stem from.