After a big hurricane hits the Louisiana coast, photos of the devastation make front-page news – houses with roofs torn off, people wading through flooded streets, broken furniture piled on lawns.
Hanusik: “There’s almost like a stock imagery that we use to describe climate change.”
But photographer Virginia Hanusik tells the story of the region in a different way.
Her images capture how the distinctive landscape of the Louisiana coast has been shaped by nature and by human hands. A home on stilts overlooks a grassy bayou. Ripples of water lap against a tall levee. Cows graze beneath a warning sign marking an oil pipeline.
In her new book, “Into the Quiet and the Light,” Hanusik’s photos are paired with essays and reflections by local scholars, activists, and community members.
Hanusik: “I … wanted to be able to bring in folks who can speak to their lifelong relationships with this landscape.”
For example, in the book, a local Vietnamese chef shares a recipe for shrimp rolls and reflects on how the BP oil spill harmed the Vietnamese shrimping community.
Hanusik hopes the approach will help people better understand the region and appreciate what’s at stake as seas rise and storms worsen.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
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