Sexton opens 'Enigmatic Stream' with book, exhibit

On Tuesday, Sept. 17, The Historic New Orleans Collection launches an exhibition and catalog of “Enigmatic Stream: Industrial Landscapes of the Lower Mississippi River” by  New Orleans-based photographer and author Richard Sexton. The opening reception will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Collection’s new exhibition space at 520 Royal St. in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

The book features 100 black-and-white photographs of Sexton’s, along with his preface and essays by Paul Schneider and John H. Lawrence, spotlighting the heavy industry that exists on the Mississippi River’s banks, where so much of the nation’s economy rests. The river is one of the world’s largest and remains one of the world's most important commercial waterways.

Sexton captures oil refineries and chemical plants, ships fighting the current, cruise ships docked at the Port of New Orleans, fishermen at the Bonnet Carre Spillway and bridges and levees. Like the houses from his previous book, “Vestiges of Grandeur: The Plantations of Louisiana’s River Road,” he discovered many industries languishing in a ruin state. In other photos, refineries and chemical plants “glowed like Orwellian metropolises” when shot at night.

“The human exploitation of a capricious river, whose swampy, fertile delta teems with oil and natural gas, has precipitated an extraordinary industrial infrastructure, which in turn has formed an equally extraordinary contrast with the rural landscape around it,” he writes in the book’s preface. “I have tried, as with all things I photograph, to portray it deliberately, purposefully, eloquently, and above all else, honestly. It is mysterious, complex, contradictory — it is an enigmatic stream.”

Sexton will be signing copies of the book during the reception and visitors may enjoy refreshments from Cafe Cour. Admission to the program is free, and the book retails for $40.  

Book Information

Enigmatic Stream: Industrial Landscapes of the Lower Mississippi River

by Richard Sexton, with essays by Paul Schneider and John H. Lawrence

published by The Historic New Orleans Collection • available Sept. 17, 2019

softcover • 9" × 12½" • 144 pp. • 90 b/w images

US $40 • UK £30

ISBN: 978-0-917860-75-1

Exhibition Information

Enigmatic Stream: Industrial Landscapes of the Lower Mississippi River

featuring the photography of Richard Sexton

on view September 17, 2019-April 5, 2020

at The Historic New Orleans Collection’s new exhibition center, 520 Royal Street

gallery hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., and Sunday, 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Admission is free.

Opening Reception

Tuesday, September 17, 2019, 6-8 p.m. at The Historic New Orleans Collection’s new exhibition center, 520 Royal Street extended gallery hours, light refreshments, and opening remarks

Richard Sexton will be available to sign books at the event.

The books will be available for purchase via The Shop at The Collection.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.