January 16 – March 12, 2006
Jane Fulton Alt, Faith # 5 (Fallen Steeple), 2005. Digital print. Courtesy of the artist.
Jane Fulton Alt, Buildings # 7 (footprints), 2005. Digital print. Courtesy of the artist.
Jane Fulton Alt, Personal # 1 (shoe), 2005. Digital print. Courtesy of the artist.
Jane Fulton Alt, Landscapes # 7 (Pink house), 2005. Digital print. Courtesy of the artist.
As part of the recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans city officials allowed residents from the most devastated areas to visit their homes briefly in order to assess the damage. Chicago photographer and social worker Jane Fulton Alt spent two weeks in New Orleans in November 2005 as a counselor through a program sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Alt provided assistance and counsel to lower Ninth Ward residents returning to their homes in the city's Look and Leave program. While careful not to intrude on residents' privacy, Alt felt compelled to document the landscape of devastation and loss that the hurricane left behind. Personal items such as a shoe, family photos, and clothes hanging from a tree become poignant reminders of the individual losses the people of the region suffered.