
On that day.
Mardi Gras Day 2019.
After the wedding. The tribes, gangs or krewes gathered on the street and headed out, making their way through Central City just as other groups of Indians were making their way around Mid-City, Treme and The Lower 9th Ward.
As much as Mardi Gras is about all of us, it is really about them. And, the Zulus. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. They are the soul of the city, especially on Mardi Gras Day.
It is a generational thing. Young Indians come aboard as older Indians make way for them. If you look at the very bottom picture, on the right, that is Tahj Williams, a young Tulane Student who is also a queen. She is on the cutting edge of suit design. Her’s are lighter, easier to move around in, and very well done. One of her suits was featured in Vogue Magazine a year or two ago.
At the end of the day, this is about life. The good. The bad.
The pictures. Oh, you know. See it, photograph it. Yes, there is some experience involved. And, a great deal of luck. Photographer’s luck. And, a little prayer. If I can work when something bad happens, I can work when something good happens. Like a wedding.


Ray, very nice to see the rest of the images. The lead shot The Eyes is magical with the colors and the intensity of the eyes. I clicked on the image to get a larger size. WOW!
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Thank you Tim. It really is a case of working there so much that the Indians know me and that makes it easier to make pictures.
An old friend of mine just retired from the Sacto Bee. He came to me out of school. He developed into a great photographer. Man! I feel old.
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Ouch but what a legacy. What’s his name? My brother-in-law may know of him since he’s lived in Sacramento for 30 years.
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Jose Luis Villegas. He went from the Orange County Register (with me) to the San Jose Mercury – News and finally to Sacto, where is family is from. In those days, they were three great newspapers.
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Thank you Ray. I’ll ask.
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I’d be interested to know. Thanks, Tim.
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The colour and your work speaks to the grateful surprises you capture Ray…beautiful captures ❤️☀️
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Thank you. It was a great way to close Carnival 2019. This location is kind of on our side of town, so I’ve gotten to know a lot of these folks. And, that matters.
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Yes I imagined your images have that relationship feeling 🤓👍☺️ they are delightful Ray.
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Funny about that…
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