When Advance Publications announced that The Times-Picayune newspaper would no longer be printed on a daily basis, I immediately became nostalgic about the two decades I spent as a TP photographer. This is the first in a series of occasional posts about my longtime newspaper family — some of the brightest and most creative people I know.
I made this photograph in January of 1995 in The Times-Picayune studio. Rick Francis (top) was in the newsroom interviewing for a job as a staff photographer. A few of us in the features section noticed that a handful of our coworkers in were dressed completely in black. Photo editor Doug Parker suggested we make a photograph of the similarly clad crew. Writer Chris Rose suggested we create a “band” photograph and then send the T-P music critic the photo as a fake press release.
I got to work in the studio emulating the lighting and background that was so typical of band photos in the 1990s. (Read: cheesy.) After batting around some band name ideas, we agreed the name should be “The Edwins” after TP newsroom receptionist Edwin Curry. Parker, Rose, Curry, and Francis — along with fashion editor Chris Bynum and features writer Siona Carpenter (now LaFrance) — never actually recorded a song. But the image remains my very favorite band photo of all time.
Photo by Kathy Anderson