Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - (Page 25) {1937-2008} A “VISITATION OF THE SPIRIT” The turning point in Smith’s career came in the early 1970s when he began photographing the Spiritual Churches, an alternative faith movement that began in New Orleans in 1920, when an obscure faith healer named Mother Leafy Anderson began holding spirit-summoning rituals. The church she formed soon spawned others, which share a taproot in Afro-Caribbean rites of Christians engaged in benevolent invocation of spirits, swept up in trance-like states. By the time Smith stumbled onto these churches a half century after they had formed, little was known of them and very few had been the subject of photography. “On most evenings, and any Sunday, exotic music and eerie screams drifted from them into the neighborhoods,” he wrote in Spirit World, which was published in 1984 as a catalogue accompanying an exhibition of his work at the Louisiana State Museum, sponsored by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, in conjunction with a music symposium that included Alan Lomax, Jr., and Danny Barker, among others. “Occasionally through an open door or window I would see entranced dancing, elaborate dress and ceremony — dreamlike visions — through a haze of incense and candles. I began to photograph these places from the street.” One night an elderly lady inside one of those small, vernacular churches, all but anonymous in the grid of the city, invited him to come in and have a seat. As he sat among the believers, the photographer raised in an uppercrust family (his daddy a member of Rex and the Boston “OCCASIONALLY THROUGH AN OPEN DOOR OR WINDOW I WOULD SEE ENTRANCED DANCING, ELABORATE DRESS AND CEREMONY — DREAMLIKE VISIONS — THROUGH A HAZE OF INCENSE AND CANDLES.” — MICHAEL P. SMITH, DESCRIBING SPIRITUAL CHURCHES IN THE BOOK S P I R I T W O R L D , 1984 Marvin Johnson, “Reborn as Bishop,” 1982 Winter 2008-09/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 25
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 Contents Friends Editor's Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Prospect.1 New Orleans The Historic New Orleans Collection The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith Jazz Notes Louisiana Foodways Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana Louisiana Association of Museums Louisiana Architecture O. Winston Link in Louisiana The Ogden Museum of Southern Art The Colfax Massacre Louisiana State Museum Unlocking the History of Greek Key Architecture Bookstand Sound Advice Forum Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 (Page Cover1) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 (Page Cover2) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Contents (Page 1) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Friends (Page 2) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Editor's Column (Page 3) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (Page 4) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (Page 5) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (Page 6) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (Page 7) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Prospect.1 New Orleans (Page 8) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Prospect.1 New Orleans (Page 9) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Prospect.1 New Orleans (Page 10) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Prospect.1 New Orleans (Page 11) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Prospect.1 New Orleans (Page 12) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Prospect.1 New Orleans (Page 13) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Prospect.1 New Orleans (Page 14) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Prospect.1 New Orleans (Page 15) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Prospect.1 New Orleans (Page 16) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Prospect.1 New Orleans (Page 17) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Historic New Orleans Collection (Page 18) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Historic New Orleans Collection (Page 19) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Historic New Orleans Collection (Page 20) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Historic New Orleans Collection (Page 21) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith (Page 22) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith (Page 23) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith (Page 24) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith (Page 25) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith (Page 26) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith (Page 27) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith (Page 28) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith (Page 29) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith (Page 30) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith (Page 31) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith (Page 32) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith (Page 33) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Jazz Notes (Page 34) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Jazz Notes (Page 35) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana Foodways (Page 36) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana Foodways (Page 37) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana (Page 38) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana (Page 39) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana (Page 40) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana (Page 41) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana (Page 42) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana (Page 43) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana (Page 44) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana (Page 45) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana (Page 46) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana (Page 47) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana (Page 48) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana (Page 49) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana Association of Museums (Page 50) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana Association of Museums (Page 51) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana Architecture (Page 52) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana Architecture (Page 53) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - O. Winston Link in Louisiana (Page 54) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - O. Winston Link in Louisiana (Page 55) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - O. Winston Link in Louisiana (Page 56) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - O. Winston Link in Louisiana (Page 57) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - O. Winston Link in Louisiana (Page 58) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - O. Winston Link in Louisiana (Page 59) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - O. Winston Link in Louisiana (Page 60) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - O. Winston Link in Louisiana (Page 61) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - O. Winston Link in Louisiana (Page 62) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - O. Winston Link in Louisiana (Page 63) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Ogden Museum of Southern Art (Page 64) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Ogden Museum of Southern Art (Page 65) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Ogden Museum of Southern Art (Page 66) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Ogden Museum of Southern Art (Page 67) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Colfax Massacre (Page 68) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Colfax Massacre (Page 69) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Colfax Massacre (Page 70) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Colfax Massacre (Page 71) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Colfax Massacre (Page 72) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Colfax Massacre (Page 73) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Colfax Massacre (Page 74) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Colfax Massacre (Page 75) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Colfax Massacre (Page 76) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Colfax Massacre (Page 77) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Colfax Massacre (Page 78) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - The Colfax Massacre (Page 79) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana State Museum (Page 80) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana State Museum (Page 81) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana State Museum (Page 82) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Louisiana State Museum (Page 83) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Unlocking the History of Greek Key Architecture (Page 84) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Unlocking the History of Greek Key Architecture (Page 85) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Unlocking the History of Greek Key Architecture (Page 86) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Unlocking the History of Greek Key Architecture (Page 87) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Unlocking the History of Greek Key Architecture (Page 88) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Unlocking the History of Greek Key Architecture (Page 89) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Unlocking the History of Greek Key Architecture (Page 90) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Unlocking the History of Greek Key Architecture (Page 91) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Bookstand (Page 92) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Bookstand (Page 93) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Sound Advice (Page 94) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Sound Advice (Page 95) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Forum (Page 96) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Forum (Page Cover3) Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - Forum (Page Cover4)
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