Students document Katrina damage in photos

Proof that something good came out of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy of 2005 currently resides on the walls at the International Photography Hall of Fame & Museum.

On display through May 31, "Eyes of the Storm: A Community Survives After Katrina" is comprised of 50 black-and-white images taken by students of Alba Middle School in storm-ravaged Bayou La Batre, Ala.

According to Katie Sutton, IPHF director, the students were part of a photography class when their school was "severely damaged and the town was almost completely destroyed."
 
COLLABORATION
Meanwhile, students from Elm Place Middle School in Highland Park, Ill., wanted to help.

"They wanted to do more than just send food or supplies," Sutton said.

So what they did was travel the wreckage with the Alba students, taking photographs.

"After they developed their film, they all sat down and wrote poetry together to express what they were feeling," she said. "The cool thing about the story is that the photographs and poetry helped them heal. It was so close to them personally that they were able to express themselves through photography in ways more advanced than what most middle-school students or high-school students could do."

IPHF is located inside the Omniplex, 2100 N.E. 52nd.

For more information, call 424-4055. "?Rod Lott

 

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