New Orleans, Louisiana. Cemetery tree.

Camera: 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 Zeiss Ikon Simplex, a collapsing bellows camera from the late 20s (I think). I know that was the camera; the question is whether I've got the manufacture date correct. F/6.3 lens, shot with tripod on Ilford Delta 400 film, and a 1-second exposure. Late March, 2002.

I was in New Orleans getting a rushed passport so I could go to Venezuela. Stayed in a cheap motel in the French Quarter ($30 for the night) of which I'll post a photo later.

I love these old cemeteries. Currently, it would be strange indeed being in New Orleans: Hurricane Katrina is wreaking havoc on the city, and bodies from these mausoleums (or are they crypts?) are being washed into the streets and the city's water supply.

That's what happens when you build a city below sea level.

One of the most interesting things about New Orleans, in my opinion, is the way garbage and trash strewn about the streets disappears overnight. The first time I was there, I was up until about 7 a.m., and during the last couple of hours when I was shooting pool in some bar, the assorted jetsam simply disappeared. Quite a system.

Of course, the architecture is splendid, and I love the river. But that kind of efficient disposal of garbage is astounding, given that they can't even keep their dead bodies underground.