Judy Cooper has a Ph.D. in literature, but photography is her passion. As a vocation and an avocation it suits her, in part because her true love is the city's culture " the rites and rituals of the ordinary people who make this place so extraordinary. Her section titles,
Women in Red,
Twins (pictured) and
New Orleans Sunday, hint at this, but what's striking is the way her vision cuts across race and class to reveal the underlying flair for self-expression that most New Orleanians share. Regarding her assorted second-line and Easter paraders, flamboyant church ladies and eccentric neighbors, Cooper says, 'I find them fitting representatives of the human condition with their quirky individuality, their dignity and their joy in the face of adversity." It's a great show. Don't miss it.
D. Eric Bookhardt Through May 11
New Orleans Museum of Art, City Park, 658-4100; www.noma.org
click to enlarge