In 2004, while I was living in Baton Rouge, I decided to stay home for Christmas. My parents were coming and spending New Year with me, but I was free on Christmas Eve.
Somebody told me about Bonfires on the Mississippi levees around Lutcher and Gramercy so I decided to check it out. At the time, I was still using film, but the company I used to develop the film had a special offer to put photos on CD and I took advantage of it. I therefore had saved digital versions of the photos from this first visit – not necessarily the best quality, but good memories.
I arrived a few hours before the fires were lit, and was amazed at some of the constructions. This is a log cabin that was fully equipped inside, with tables, chairs and dummies.
The ghost that you see in front of the photo is the result of a technique I used with my film camera when I was faced with a crowd. I would put the camera on the tripod and take several super-imposed shots without winding the film. Since people move, only the fixed objects that I am trying to photograph are clearly visible. Here, I probably only took 3-4 shots.
At 7 PM, the fires are lit, and there are fireworks, by individuals. Some of the fireworks are quite nice – I have no ideas how much money people put into these.
There were quite a few people, but it was not crowded. Even the River Road was not totally jammed.
The majority of bonfires are pyramids that tend to burn quite well.
I like the movement of the embers in this photo.
Even the log cabin went up in smoke Continue reading “Christmas Eve – Bonfires on the Levees”
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