Standing But Not Operating

Standing But Not Operating is a photography book documenting the site formerly known as Six Flags New Orleans that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.


------------------


On August 28th, 2005, fearing the worst, Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city of New Orleans. Many residents fled their homes, businesses were closed as those who chose to remain in the city prepared for the worst.


The following day Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 3 storm. Subjecting the city to brutal winds and rainfall for a number of hours and lead to 53 breaches of the city's levee system. By August 31st 80% of New Orleans was flooded with some parts under as much as 15 feet of water. Many were killed, many more lost their homes and everything they held dear.


Today New Orleans has persevered. Much of the city has been rebuilt and the effects of the storm are not immediately apparent. However, as of November 2011 one place remain frozen in time – Six Flags New Orleans aka Jazzland– an amusement park devastated by the storm and abandoned by it's owners. Now off limits and a liability to the city, it stands as a somber memorial innocence lost. For city employees and the park's illegal visitors however it serves as a time capsule, a lens through which one can begin to understand the devastation New Orleans and it's residents faced.