In 2000, the Jazzland amusement park opened on filled-in swampland at the eastern edge of New Orleans. Purchased and re-branded two years later by the giant Six Flags amusement park chain, the park closed in 2005 as Hurricane Katrina bore down on it, and never reopened. Various photographers have infiltrated the site and produced eerie photos of the defunct place of fun, 75 of which form a phantasmagorical display at the lovethesepics website. Wrote one photographer: I spotted the haunted lines of its empty roller coaster from the Ninth Ward off Interstate 510 while playing tourist in 2009 and begged a friend...

26 June, 2011

Installation artist and urban activist Candy Chang turned the side of an abandoned house at the corner of Marigny and Burgundy in New Orleans into a giant chalkboard where residents can record what’s important to them. She provided chalk: Chang explains: It’s also about turning a neglected space into a constructive one where we can learn the hopes and aspirations of the people around us… [T]his entire process (including official approval from many entities) has been a great lesson, experience, and project in itself….I believe the design of our public spaces can better reflect what’s important to us. The responses and stories from...

12 March, 2011