Picturing Black New Orleans: A Creole Photographer's View of the Early Twentieth Century

The visual legacy of Florestine Perrault Collins, who documented African American life in New Orleans

Florestine Perrault Collins (1895-1988) lived a fascinating and singular life. She came from a Creole family that had known privileges before the Civil War, privileges that largely disappeared in the Jim Crow South. She learned photographic techniques while passing for white. She opened her first studio in her home, and later moved her business to New Orleans's Black business district. Fier...