Yesterday afternoon as I was driving around Wichita, running errands like a maniac, I heard a piece on NPR about Hurricane Gustav and its effects on a small town in Lousiana called Houma. "So what?" you might ask. So, one of my college colleagues, Matt Stamey, lives down there and works as a photographer for the Houma Courier.
(photo by Matt Stamey)
Matt is chronicling the events via the Stormtracker Photo Blog, but he also has some brief updates on his personal blog as well.
An excerpt from Day 1 of the Stormtracker Photo Blog:
"Wow, that was intense.
Being from Kansas, I had never seen anything like I saw today as Gustav made its way through Terrebonne Parish.
As the wind and rain increased, I wanted to see first hand what a Hurricane felt like. It didn't take long to realize that standing in the middle of town during a hurricane wasn't for me. "
And this is an excerpt from day 2:
"I felt whole again, I was finally out shooting. For a while, I forgot that a hurricane had just passed. We were talking with a couple of guys on their street and it felt like any other day. We were out there getting photos and stories of the people who live in our community.
If it's a story of a kid at a science fair, or story about a man and his batman collection or a story about someone who just lost their home, the concept of gathering the images and story remains the same."
What I just love, love, love about Matt is how genuine he is. He moved down to Houma a few years ago and just dove into the community. He truly became a part of the community, and whenever he talks about it, it is SO evident. I wish I could have become part of the community at my first newspaper .... and truly called it home. Stamey has done that, and I have to tip my hat to him for that.
Let's rewind a bit to 2005 and Hurricane Katrina. Matt was beginning to call Houma home, and was also in the biggest national news event of the year.
Having the heart of gold that he does, Matt wanted to help. And thus "Faces of Katrina" was born.
He explained to the K-State photographers: "my main goal with this project is to get families back together. It kills me when a little boy comes to me and asks if I've seen his dad. Any little bit I can do to help, I will."
So he went to a few shelters and photographed the refugees, posted it on the Courier's Web site, and hoped families would be able to find their loved ones.
(photos by Matt Stamey)
You can view the project HERE and HERE.
Matt is so awesome that he put together a year-anniversary project, too. You can check it out HERE.
I also think he put together a DVD about the project ... where he spoke about the project, his thought behind it and the results of it. He presented it to us at our annual K-State photo gathering .... and I just wept when I saw it. It was so truly beautiful, and you could tell it was so heartfelt (I'm all tearing up as I'm typing this now!). I'm not sure where you can get it, but if I find out, I'll add it to this post.
So ... be sure to go leave some encouragement for those in Houma at the Stormtracker Photo Blog!
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