In the Spirit: The Photography of Michael P. Smith from the Historic New Orleans Collection

In the spring of 2007, The Historic New Orleans Collection acquired the archive of photographer Michael P. Smith, ensuring both its long term preservation and ultimate public access. Through photographs, field recordings, journals, correspondence, printed ephemera, and other documents, Smith s professional and personal interests offer an extended gaze into the world of spiritual churches, Mardi Gras Indians, and traditional jazz funerals, as well as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which Smith photographed without interruption from 1970 2004.The trove of Michael P. Smith archival material now housed at The Historic New Orleans Collection provides the basis for two exhibitions under the single title: In the Spirit: The Photography of Michael P. Smith from The Historic New Orleans Collection. Beyond the Music at The Historic New Orleans Collection focuses on the breadth of Smith s nearly forty-year career. Twenty-Five Jazz Fests at the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center spotlights Smith s photographs of performers at the world-renowned New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The exhibition catalog for In the Spirit: The Photography of Michael P. Smith from The Historic New Orleans Collection features essays by Jason Berry, Dan Cameron, and John Lawrence and Jude Solomon and includes a selection of nearly 100 Michael P. Smith photographs from both exhibition venues.