SAINTS & SINNERS

The fleur-de-lis, a long-standing symbol of French monarchy, and the U.S. flag, that emblem of American nationalism, may have, at first glance, little to do with each other. But to be an American from the former French territory of Louisiana is, one suspects, not a simple proposition; and given their recent travails, Louisianans may be forgiven for viewing themselves as not only separate and different, by persecuted and martyred as well.

The British photojournalist, Charlie Varley, has been documenting the fall and slow rise of New Orleans since that day in August, five years ago, when a great American city seemed to be disappearing beneath dark waters; and the New York filmmaker, Spike Lee has endeavored to do the same thing with two documentaries on the ravages of Hurricane Katrina.

Together, they’ve thoughtfully captured the nuances of a national tragedy, and–as in Varley’s photograph of altered stars and stripes, seen in Lee’s recent documentary–artfully revealed something of what it means to be from that singular region of the American south.

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