In Katrina's Wake: Portraits of Loss from an Unnatural Disaster [Hardcover]

Susan Zakin (Author), Bill McKibben (Author), Chris Jordan (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 2006

While many may argue whether the devastation of hurricane Katrina was the direct or indirect result of global warming, infrastructural neglect, inadequate preparation, or an incompetent governmental response, nobody will deny the heartbreak it wrought, the homes, businesses, and history washed away, the landscape uprooted, or the lives lost.

Renowned photographer Chris Jordan went on assignmenthis ownto capture the tragedy of the aftermath of this, the greatest natural disaster in the history of the United States. In Katrina's Wake, his series of 50 photographs, layer, the horror of ruin with the uncanny beauty of nature, even in its most savage incarnation. His images show how the remnants of a placefrom Mardi Gras beads to church pews, from computer stations to swing setsrecall the essence of a place. Essays by Bill McKibben, Elizabeth Royte, and Susan Zakin explore the causes and effects of global warming, noting that we are all responsible for the future of our planet.

A portion of the profits from the sale of this book will be donated to organizations dedicated to rebuilding New Orleans.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Photographer Jordan, whose striking images have been showcased on CNN and in numerous magazines and newspapers, focuses on American consumerism and its detritus, a subject turned tragic and surreal in -hurricane-scoured New Orleans. With a keen eye for contrast and color, Jordan can't help but discern and capture a catastrophic beauty in scenes of devastation, bizarre juxtapositions (a refrigerator in a tree), and the unexpectedly compelling patterns etched, smeared, and bashed into myriad surfaces natural and -human-made by violently churning waters and blasting winds. So poignant is a front gate left battered yet standing with no fence beside it, no house behind it. A sock drawer dumped, bright fabrics muddied. A beat-up phone book on scaly mud in a place of no phones, no people. Fantastic sculptures assembled out of smashed homes by the maelstrom confound the eye and pain the heart. Jordan's poetic images are accompanied by clarion essays by environmental writers Bill McKibben and Susan Zakin, making this an exceptionally artistic and thought-provoking response to a never-to-be-forgotten calamity. Book proceeds go to hurricane relief. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

(Jordan's) photograhy graphically reflects how remnants can recall the essence of a place. -- Tuscon Citizen, Nov. 2 2006

In Katrina's Wake, Jordan's series of 50 photographs layer the horror of ruin with the uncanny beauty of nature, even in its most savage incarnation. -- Revista Adelante, Nov. 2006

His empathy for the people affected by the disaster is matched by an awareness of its possible cause. -- Santa Fe New Mexican, Nov. 3, 2006

Jordan's poetic images are accompanied by clarion essays by environmental writers Bill McKibben and Susan Zakin, making this an execeptionally artistic and thought-provoking response to a never-to-be-forgotten calamity. -- Booklist, Sept. 15, 2006

Rather than photograph people (of New Orleans), Jordan let their possessions evoke their misfortune...the power of Jordan's images will make itself felt. -- Republic, Dec. 10, 2006

Saturated in color and focused in content, these pictures humanize the storm's massive tragedy, lending individual stories a sense of poignancy and scale. -- American Photo, Feb./Mar. 2007

Unlike most post-Katrina photography, Jordan's has no people in it. Instead, it evokes the eerie calm of an Antonioni film. . . -- Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2006

We witness the devastation in lavish detail, and the poetic fascination is eclipsed by alarm. . . . the evidence accumulates, and the effect is inevitably political. -- T: The New York Tines Style Magazine, Fall 2006

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (August 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156898622X
• ISBN-13: 978-1568986227
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 10.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #45 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Earth Sciences > Atmospheric Sciences
  • #68 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Architectural
  • #98 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Earth Sciences > Natural Disasters

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning, Brilliant, and Sad, September 24, 2006

By 

Joanna (Albany, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Katrina's Wake: Portraits of Loss from an Unnatural Disaster (Hardcover)

All of the eerie magic and mystery of a ruined city bound into still-life is contained here. New Orleans was transformed and Chris Jordan captures the essence of loss in this beautiful coffee table book that brings tears as well as the sense that there is some spirit there that, although seriously damaged, will never be completely lost.

Perhaps that is a romantic view, for these are hauntingly romantic photos, but romance aside, it begs the very real question of what has been lost; in Jordan's pictures are answers such as innocence, beauty, history and lives. Most often training his camera on oil drums, fields of rail containers, crushed cars and other post-consumer detritus, Jordan's photos capture surreal landscapes created from the lost homes, appliances, mattresses, mardi gras beads and general clutter of New Orleans, post-Katrina. His color and composition are both skillful and noteworthy. (I can't help but compare it to another coastal city, the lost historical Alexandria and all of the wonder and sadness that brings to mind.)

The book is studded with first hand accounts from Jordan as well as essays by conservation writer Bill McKibben, and science and nature writers Elizabeth Royte and Susan Zakin. It is punctuated with the beautiful poetry of Jordan's wife, Victoria Sloane Jordan.

Why would anyone need to own it? Well, when one is finished with the first gasp, one then needs to read it, then, start all over again. It is a very thought-provoking book about nature, loss, the country and, in a larger sense, the world.

This book is on my gift list to nearly everybody this year. I can't wait to have my own copy! Proceeds go to benefit the Gulf Coast, just so you know. Yes, I am the first reviewer. No, I've never heard of Chris Jordan or any of the other writers before I saw this book. If I don't own it yet, how do I know so much? 'Cause I read it in the bookstore and I couldn't put it down.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yeah, a good job, January 19, 2009

By 

James A. Hayden "G G" (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Katrina's Wake: Portraits of Loss from an Unnatural Disaster (Hardcover)

Nice pictures of urban wreckage.

Re the Zakin essay: This is a fine synthesis of many disciplines, and reveals an intellect eloquent, informed, confident and fleet footed in many fields.

Minor objections: A slightly more astute editor may have omitted the author's oddly self-congratulatory knowledge of Bordueax:

"When Katrina come...The white wines, they went bad. The reds, they did better. But there was a 1949 Lafite Rothschild."

"That's a good one," I say. "Famous."
(well, i suspect so.)

Also, a more respectful author may have credited her readers with a more thorough knowledge of New Orleans than cinema references: "All the Kings Man" or Paul Newman roles. Perhaps, a reference to Harry T. Long. But, then, this fine essay appears after the age of mass literacy. And that is a very limited readership under age 45.

4.0 out of 5 stars inspirational, November 10, 2007

By 

S. Brown (USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Katrina's Wake: Portraits of Loss from an Unnatural Disaster (Hardcover)

This is a truly ispirational and visually stimulating journey through the aftermath of disaster. It builds on Chris Jordon's skill of finding beauty in the unexpected. Beautiful tonal and textural interplay. A visual delight.