Spring Break
Photographer brings personal experiences from New Orleans catastrophe to Fine Arts Center gallery
Tyler Will
Issue date: 11/9/07 Section: News
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11/9/07 - The wake of a hurricane prompted University of Massachusetts -Dartmouth student Jess Raimondi to photograph relief work in New Orleans for her final graduation project.
Eighteen of Raimondi's photographs from her project titled "Post-Katrina New Orleans: More Than Picking up the Pieces" are currently on display in the photography gallery of the University of Rhode Island's Fine Arts Center.
Raimondi made three trips to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck the city in the summer of 2005. The Category 5 storm left thousands homeless and generated a massive humanitarian crisis.
"That first trip was the determining trip of what sucked me in," Raimondi, a Scituate, R.I. native, said.
Raimondi and other volunteers spent the first trip cleaning two houses, which took about a week, she said.
The second visit to New Orleans was a weekend road trip with her sister a year after the hurricane struck, Raimondi said.
Her third trip this April lasted a week and was a way to check up on the families with whom she formed an "intimate" relationship with.
The photos in the gallery are from all three trips, Raimondi said. The selected photos represents a minority of the hundreds of photos she took.
Raimondi said her interest in photojournalism developed from emotional captivation.
"I'm fascinated in telling a story through my own eyes," she said. "What I really love about photojournalism is the power of it."
Raimondi said she was proud of documenting the aftermath of the vicious storm.
"It was a lot about revisiting [the families]," she said. "Even though we'd gutted the homes it didn't mean they had the money to rebuild."
Her photos share more than just the story of the people of New Orleans. Raimondi uses the photos to encourage others to serve the community.
"I feel like everyone should be able to go down there and do the same thing I did," she said.
While rampant destruction can be depressing, Raimondi said the hurricane victims have a "positive outlook on things, even in the toughest situations."
Eighteen of Raimondi's photographs from her project titled "Post-Katrina New Orleans: More Than Picking up the Pieces" are currently on display in the photography gallery of the University of Rhode Island's Fine Arts Center.
Raimondi made three trips to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck the city in the summer of 2005. The Category 5 storm left thousands homeless and generated a massive humanitarian crisis.
"That first trip was the determining trip of what sucked me in," Raimondi, a Scituate, R.I. native, said.
Raimondi and other volunteers spent the first trip cleaning two houses, which took about a week, she said.
The second visit to New Orleans was a weekend road trip with her sister a year after the hurricane struck, Raimondi said.
Her third trip this April lasted a week and was a way to check up on the families with whom she formed an "intimate" relationship with.
The photos in the gallery are from all three trips, Raimondi said. The selected photos represents a minority of the hundreds of photos she took.
Raimondi said her interest in photojournalism developed from emotional captivation.
"I'm fascinated in telling a story through my own eyes," she said. "What I really love about photojournalism is the power of it."
Raimondi said she was proud of documenting the aftermath of the vicious storm.
"It was a lot about revisiting [the families]," she said. "Even though we'd gutted the homes it didn't mean they had the money to rebuild."
Her photos share more than just the story of the people of New Orleans. Raimondi uses the photos to encourage others to serve the community.
"I feel like everyone should be able to go down there and do the same thing I did," she said.
While rampant destruction can be depressing, Raimondi said the hurricane victims have a "positive outlook on things, even in the toughest situations."
