POST-KATRINA LIVE OAKS :: SPIRITS WITHIN

I have continued to photograph the post-Katrina Live Oaks every time I visit my beloved Mississippi Gulf Coast. I see the destruction that Katrina left behind on every visit and I am in continual awe of the power of that historical storm. If I could not find something positive within that destruction, I would not be able to continue on. I am determined to make my own form of lemonaid from the many lemons left in Katrina's wake, afterall, she ruined my dream, too. So, the search for the spirits within the living things of the earth is a quest for truth and beauty and hope eternal that all will be alright in the end.
And to that I add: "If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen." – Henry David Thoreau

Front Beach Oak with Bird

Still shot taken from movie made on Front Beach at Washington in Ocean Springs, MS. Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 camera with Leica 28mm lens.


Oak at Eisenhower and Beach Blvd. - Biloxi.


Pelican Spirits -Biloxi.


The Survivor


With this magnificent Live Oak in the background, there was a small group of Live Oaks that did not survive Katrina in a fenced area in the median of Beach Blvd. Dayton Scoggins was commissioned by Biloxi Mayor, A. J. Holloway to sculpt marine-related figures from the dead oaks. This particular shot has a Pelican with a fish dangling from its mouth. To see more photos of the sculpting process, visit : Tree Sculpture



Hanging On

This thin-limbed sentinel stands outside of the fenced area which contains the Scoggins sculptures and overlooks that magical Gulf Coast water.


Beach Blvd. Spirits
This minimalistic oak was a stark image and I felt like it had something within that it wanted to say. Surviving Katrina was a tough ordeal. Surviving the prospect of being cut down by man, perhaps even tougher.


One Crow for Sorrow, Two for Joy


Tree with Fence

A twisted cast iron fence and a thin tree overlooking the Bay in Bay St. Louis.


Waveland Oak with Birds
This very minimalistic and obviously once large and lush oak is still hanging on since I first saw it 2 years ago. However, there are still no signs of green leaves sprouting from the barren limbs. I see the angels and the birds, but no new growth.



Clermont Harbor Spirits


Oak Spirits at Buchaneer Park


"Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage."– Sri Aurobindo


All photos shot with the Lumix - Nov. 2007.