I Can't Ever Breathe.

I Can't Ever Breathe
November 11, 2006

I think seeing a natural disaster like what's happening in Japan makes people think of their personal catastrophes, natural or not. So, it's got me in a weird mood. It can happen here and it will happen here. It's only a matter of time. And if Oklahoma is proof of anything, it's that.

In 2006, I took a trip to Mississippi to see my friend Angie and to film some of the damage from Hurricane Katrina, yet another one of those surreal life-stocking experiences. I made it a point to focus on Mississippi and not New Orleans. I sort of felt like Gulfport and Biloxi got a little forgotten in all of that. Even though their damage wasn't nearly as traumatic or expensive, a lot of people lost a lot of things that were important to them. Archives from the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library (because yes, he was a president and yes, he does have one) were lost forever in floods and fires. Angie showed me a public library that became an indoor paintball range almost overnight. This photo is of what used to be a Super 8. I shifted through a lot of the damage that day and found a room phone, still clearly labeled as being from Room 204 (which I later named the 16mm film project I did with the footage I shot). I've still got the phone and I still can't get all the sand out of inside of it.

It's important to note that I took this photo in November 2006. Hurricane Katrina was in September of 2005. It's important to remember that. Rebuilding is a process. If you've got a few dollars, send them to the Red Cross. I promise they'll find a good home.

(Shot with a Nikon S1. Contrast is photoshopped. And very tastefully, if I might add.)