14 Jul 2013

Head Washing Ceremony with Voodoo Priestess Sallie Ann Glassman

by Pompo | posted in: Event Photography, Prints for Sale, Videos | 1

This image is one of the two to be shown at the Multimedia Art Museum of Moscow – House of Photography

I have been meaning to go to the head washing ceremony of Voodoo priestess Sallie Ann Glassman for a few years now, but for a reason or another I always seemed to miss it and then, of course, regret it. The ceremony is held every year at sunset on the rusted Magnolia bridge, across Bayou St. John, which is most likely the oldest existing bridge in New Orleans. I don’t know much about Voodoo at all, but when I read the invitation for the ceremony, knowing where it’s held at and its time, I have no doubts all the needed “ingredients” are there for some preeeeetty interesting photography…For those of you reading that aren’t from around here, Sallie Ann Glassman has been practicing Vodou in New Orleans since 1977 and in 1995 became one of few White Americans to have been ordained via the traditional Haitian initiation.

Sallie Ann Glassman and La Source Ancienne Ounfo celebrate St. John’s Eve with their annual Headwashing Ceremony (form of Vodou baptism) dedicated to Marie Laveau. Wear all white and bring a white scarf or rag for your head (It will get dirty.) Bring an offering for Marie Laveau.

She likes flowers, blue and white candles, Creole foods,hair ribbons and hair dressing supplies (She was a hairdresser.), Vodou-esque items (Voodoo dolls, potions, gris-gris bags, etc.), or images of Marie Laveau.

Thank you for allowing me to shoot the ceremony Sallie Ann and everyone else. I appreciated the warm welcome!

Too see more images and/or puchase prints of the ceremony or for any other New Orleans Fine Art Photography, please click each image directly or head on to my other website http://www.nolaPIC.com

The video above I took is handheld and shaky, I know, I know I should have brought my tripod…lol, however it gives you a feel of the ceremony…

26 Jun 2013

2013 New Orleans Mardi Gras Photos

by Pompo | posted in: Event Photography, Prints for Sale | 0

Zulu float on Mardi Gras day rolling on Canal St. in New Orleans — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

Here is a quick sample of some of my best shots taken during the super-mega-crowded 2013 Carnival season! More can be found on my other site http://www.nolaPIC.com where prints can be purchased…’Til next year: Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!!!

Maison LeMonnier in the French Quarter (click image to purchase a print) — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

For some strange reasons I keep on getting attracted by the Maison LeMonnier. It’s really my European (Italian!) descent that I think drags me here. When shooting in the French Quarter I somehow end up shoot this corner house! Something about the paint job, its balconies and shutters that really, and I mean, REALLY, remind me my early life growing up in Italy…I truly love this building which they still call the skyscraper since it was the very first three stories high building in the French Quarter.

Maison LeMonnier in the French Quarter New Orleans Lousiana — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

I actually have a couple more of Maison LeMonnier (!) taken during Mardi Gras but I won’t post them here on this blog, due to time and bandwidth constraints. Please check my site http://www.nolaPIC.com to see more and/or to purchase fine art prints.

Kelly Clarkson on Endymion — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

The one and only… Jazz Legend Mr. Pete Fountain!
While walking in the French Quarter very bright and early, heard some music and I practically bumped into Pete Fountain with his marching band and float! He was ready to be getting interviewed by a local News Station WWLT and was nice enough to strike a pose for me.

20 Aug 2012

2012 Satchmo Summerfest and Treme Jazz Mass

by Pompo | posted in: Event Photography, Prints for Sale | 0

Picture of Treme Brass Band — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

I’m not gonna shoot this again next year, yeah, this is it. That’s what I say every time!

As we get closer to the Annual Satchmo Summerfest the excitement starts to build up day by day. I start thinking of how unique this is and how can I even think of missing the Jazz Mass, the Treme Brass Band, Yoshio Toyama (known as the Japanase Satchmo) and their live jazz performance at the super packed St. Augustine Church? It’s in the heart of Treme, the birthplace of jazz, It’s a fantastic and “only in New Orleans” experience, there is even a second line from the St. Augustine Church to the Mint where the music festival actually go on…How can I miss it!?!? I guess I’ll just once again and ‘ll take one more shot..:)

Al "Carnival Time" Johnson / Click image to purchase a fine art print — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

Al “Carnival Time” Johnson during the 2012 Satchmo Summerfest Parade in New Orleans

Treme Brass Band at St. Augustine Church in Treme, New Orleans.Click image to purchase a print. — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

Mr. Lionel Ferbos at the 2012 Satchmo summerfest in New Orleans. Click image to purchase a print. At 101, trumpeter Lionel Ferbos is the oldest playing jazz musician in New Orleans. — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

Pictures of Jazz Black and White New Orleans Lionel Ferbos — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

Lionel Ferbos black and white photo — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

4 Jul 2012

Mardi Gras Photography

by Pompo | posted in: Event Photography, Prints for Sale | 0

I have finally found the time to go through and edit all the 2012 Mardi Gras pictures I have shot in New Orleans! Please see some of the best photos below and do not forget that in order to purchase fine art prints you should go to my other photography website http://www.nolaPIC.com or you can click on each image shown here to be taken directly there.

Mardi Gras photography new orleans — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

Crew of Rex on Mardi Gras day rolling on Canal Street in New Orleans

Mardi Gras fine art photography prints — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

Krewe of Pontchartrain on Canal Street

mardi gras beads tree photo print — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

Along parade routes these type of trees are frequently spotted right after Mardi Gras. This is a unique one indeed!

prints of bourbon st new orleans — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

You need to see this at least once in a lifetime. Then get out of there and go somewhere
else, like on Frenchmen Street where a lot of the locals hangs out.

mardi gras photography print bourbon street — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street right by the Royal Sonesta

bourbon street photo for sale — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras day in New Orleans

28 Feb 2012

Will Ferrell King of Bacchus 2012

by Pompo | posted in: Event Photography, Prints for Sale | 1

Mardi Gras is a very big deal in New Orleans; as everything else that celebrates the joy of living, we take it very seriously down here. The king cakes, the beads, the Mardi Gras Indians, the boobs and drunks on Bourbon St. the parades with their floats come and go with different flavors and colors, year after year with, same route, same days, same Krewes,they are wonderful, yet quite the same each year. There is one thing locals and tourists alike wont forget too soon which draws much anticipation and media attention is the King of Bacchus! Well as you may have heard by now, the 2012 King of Bacchus was Mr. Will Ferrell !

Please click here to purchase prints of Will Ferrell on my other site nolaPIC.com

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5 Oct 2011

Fine Art Engagement Photography in The French Quarter

by Pompo | posted in: Event Photography, Photography | 0

Just a few shots from my latest engagement photo shoot with Amy and Christian from Dallas TX. The shoot was done early in the morning in the French Quarter of New Orleans; and when I say early, I mean EARLY, (just after sunrise), when the light is great and the temperature is more manageable. The streets and alleys in the French Quarter are more romantic when they are deserted. A beautiful day with a beautiful couple form some great pictures which they will hopefully enjoy forever. As we say in Italy: Auguri e figli maschi, Amy and Christian! 🙂

Here below is another enagement photo session done in New Orleans French Quarter with Natalie and Conar from Tennessee

New Orleans is one of the most romantic, colorful and photogenic cities in the US, full of opportunities for unique engagement photo shoots. While the French Quarter was still crowded with lots of people still hanging out from Mardi Gras’, we managed to get some great images thanks to the location scouting I did a few days before the photo shoot. As you can see from the images below my main focus (pun intended) is to shoot with a modern and more graphic feel to it than a photojournalistic style. Framing the photos balancing spaces and objects in relation with the couple and color palettes of the French Quarter was my approach which I think worked quite well. Of course I did take some more everyday type photos since the French Quarter was really too crowded to take only those clutter free graphic type images, it would have taken a week with all the traffic and tourists!. What a lovely and fun couple to work with…These below are just some of the shots for you to see. Thank you Amy and Christian + Natalie and Conar for the trust and the hard work!

11 Aug 2011

2011 Satchmo Summerfest

by Pompo | posted in: Event Photography, Photography, Prints for Sale | 2

Click Image to see it larger and/or purchase a fine art print — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

This is the second time that I have attended and shot the Satchmo Jazz Mass at the St. Augustine Church in Treme. The event is part of the annual Satchmo Summerfest which is held every year at the old US Mint on Esplanade Ave. in New Orleans. To be perfectly clear last year I didn’t actually attend “all the way”, since I wasn’t expecting the church to be so crowded so early, I ended up getting there a bit too late to get in, so I was stuck outside waiting for the function to end so I could shoot the second line! As many of you know, Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong was a native New Orleanian, and that is the reason why we celebrate his birthday with a Jazz Mass, second lines and music, (lots of it) . To see more pictures from the 2011 Satchmo Summerfest are here.

Getting up “very” early allowed me to position myself close the brass band, on the exact side of the church where I had planned to be on…Actually when I got there, St. Augustine Church was still closed :). I’m pretty satisfied with the photos, hard work always pays off!

More pictures from the 2011 Satchmo Summerfest are here

24 Apr 2011

Dr John at Tipitina’s

by Pompo | posted in: Event Photography, Photography, Prints for Sale | 0

One April 20th, 2011, on the one year memorial of the worst man-made enviromental disaster in our nation’s history, coastal residents are coming together to honor the 11 men that died & those that fought to protect our coast. After town hall meetings and debates the musics had to roll at Tipitina’s in the French Quarter. Here below are few of the best shots of Dr. John performing (click on each image to see them larger or to purchase prints on my other site nolaPIC.com).

Dr John at Tipitina's — Click image to purchase a print on nolaPIC.com

23 Mar 2011

Mardi Gras Indians Super Sunday 2011

by Pompo | posted in: Event Photography, Photography | 0

Mardi Gras Indians Super Sunday (March 20th 2011 uptown New Orleans)
Every year on the closest Sunday to St. Joseph day, the Mardi Gras Indians parades uptown New Orleans where visitors and locals can admire their amazing costumes, and follow the parade with them. The Super Sunday parade, was greater than ever with some of the best Mardi Gras suits ever seen, “polite cops” and even lots of kids parading as well! Don’t miss this very unique New Orleans tradition next year! This is of course just a small sample of the great artwork by the New Orleans Indians gangs; I will hopefully upload more whenever I’ll find the time to get to it.

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12 Dec 2010

Walter Payton Jr. Celebration and Second Line

by Pompo | posted in: Black and White Photography, Event Photography, Photography, Prints for Sale | 0

pictures of Uncle Lionel batiste second lines new orleans — Click image to purchase a print or view more photos from this second line on nolaPIC.com

On Thursday, October 28, 2010, the city of New Orleans lost a great man and a wonderful musician. The world will not be the same without Walter Payton Jr.

Born and raised in New Orleans’ Uptown neighborhoods, Walter’s first brushes with Preservation Hall came in the early sixties when Allan Jaffe would lend him his sousaphone for gigs with the Eureka, Apollo, and Olympia Brass Bands. After receiving advanced instruction from Robert Rohe at Xavier College, Walter went on to perform on several hit records, including Lee Dorsey’s “Working in a Coal Mine” and Aaron Neville’s “Tell It Like It Is.”

Walter Payton also served as a teacher in the New Orleans public school system for twenty-five years, where he had the opportunity to instruct a young Ben Jaffe in the ways of the bass.