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| poster from the exhibit |
DOUG DUFFEY/LOUISIANA AMERICANA
With this year marking the 200th anniversary of Louisiana
becoming a state, I thought, for this show, exhibiting various images I had
captured from around the state was in order.
I have been photographing my home, Louisiana, for almost
half a century. I have many photos from all over the state; but have chosen to
focus primarily on the Northeast Louisiana region and New Orleans, where I
lived for many years. There are also a few shots from other regions in the
state, as well as a few from Natchez and Vicksburg, which fit into the
‘Americana’ category.
When
selecting photos for this exhibit, I was also thinking of all the photographers
of the FSA, during 1935–44 who went across America photographing the horrors of
the great depression- especially in the destitute rural deep south [which, in
some places, has NOT changed all that much] and how those images have stuck in
my head forever; influencing my own work. I have, for as long as I can
remember, been attracted to, if not obsessed with photographing deserted home
places, shotgun houses, hand painted signs, folk art type things; rusted and
falling down barns and abandoned buildings, junk stores, etc. Old wood, brick
and rust excite me, when I see it; and I feel I have to capture it before it
vanishes. In Louisiana rust, abandonment and decay are everywhere... but not
forever
I find beauty in the funkiness and eccentricity here; which
is often overlooked. It is a major part of what I love to capture as a
photographer: the beautiful, and the not so beautiful, the humorous, quirky,
eccentric and the sad. I’ve always found Louisiana to be tragically beautiful;
beautiful with an underlying sadness, mystery and magic about it; overflowing
with majesty and soul, apparent in a lot of everyday things that we
might overlook, not notice, or scarcely notice; things that we have become too
accustomed to, which surround us; that we would see nowhere else… remnants of
ages that are perishing, fading, quickly disappearing... either by man made or
natural disasters.
General
Electric used to say, “Progress is our most important product,” It isn’t. When
I see the devastation, annihilation, pollution and desecration: like forests
being razed to put in a strip mall or a gated community, small towns abandoned
and left to ruin; in some cases whole ‘city’ blocks leveled- it angers
me. I try to capture the images of things I KNOW will not be here much
longer; which, I think, at times, IS my 'raison d'être... to preserve the
memory of what I can, while I can, for future generations though my
photographs.
Doug Duffey was born in Monroe, Louisiana in
1950. He was inducted into the Louisiana hall of Fame in 2001- and the National
Blues Hall of Fame in 2009. Best known as a singer, songwriter, musician, performer,
he is also a serious multi genre visual artist; mediums being collage, drawing,
painting, photography and mixed media. He began his musical career, performing
professionally, at the age of 14 and has become an international entertainer
and recording artist, releasing 7 CDs of original material. He has promoted
Louisiana music and culture in Europe and beyond for the past 20 years;
performing in international festivals, music clubs, and has performed 2
different times for the American Embassy/Ambassador in Moscow, Russia. As with
his music, he began creating art at a very early age. He has drawn and painted
since childhood; began making collage in the 1960s; taught himself photography:
from camera basics to how to develop film and make prints. Preferring film [and
vintage cameras] to digital, he often utilizes both in his work. His artwork
has been exhibited in galleries and museums in Louisiana [New Orleans,
Shreveport, Monroe, Bastrop] and Europe. He is a member of the 10/20/40 Art
Group. He has resided and worked between Louisiana and Switzerland for the past
20 years.
[c] 2012 DOUG DUFFEY
