In examining over 600 photos she took of Hurricane Katrina's devastation to New Orleans homes, something began to stand out to Dr. Bette Kaufman.
"I was sitting at my dining room table shuffling the photos around. I eventually lined a few up where the watermark was, and kept playing with it. I made enlargements, mounted them on paper, and put them on the wall. It just seemed to be the way to do it," says Kauffman, an associate professor of communication at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
The finished work is a compelling visual of buildings and homes brought together by the darkened line from receded floodwaters.
Kauffman opened the white space surrounding the photos to written comments from those who viewed the presentation. She says some of the most moving remarks come from the storm's survivors. "These are people who lived, that and saw their friends and neighbors die. Those remembrances are very powerful."
The exhibit is displayed in the main hallway on the first floor of Walker Hall.
