We took a drive out to New Orleans East this morning to do some location scouting and to get some stories from my cousin Connie who lives out there. The place is lonely and spread out. We’re particularly interested in that stretch of land on Chef passed Crowder. Motels and factories and trailer parks. Sweet. We drive some more, and there is a small casino and I think the last General Dollar before the land turns to water.
Connie tells us some stories about what it’s like to live in the East. This is a place where family members shoot each other in the street. A place where drunks crawl up the front steps of the house and where people take more than they are supposed to. Connie will stay because she owns this little sliver of land.
Patrick doesn’t take pictures, and, when I ask him about it, he says “I’m overwhelmed.”
Now we have to go back at night. We have to see what the light looks like and what things are possible. Again, the locations are informing the story and vice versa.
