One weekend in the summer of 2013, my wife and I decided to get out of the house and head to Middendorf’s, the famous catfish restaurant at Manchac. This is always a magical landmark for us, both culturally and geographically – the place where Coastal Louisiana meets the Deep South and the point where Lake Maurepas flows into Lake Pontchartrain. It is also the site … Continue reading Bridge at Manchac
Until the last week or two, we’ve had our steady cycle of rain and early summer showers that bring us wonderful, billowy clouds. They are one of my favorite parts of the season. A trip to Orange Beach, Alabama provided the rest of my inspiration. For pricing and availability check out the painting price list page. Continue reading Summer Inspiration
Without question, Audubon Park is one of America’s most beautiful urban greenspaces. These landscapes are an attempt to capture the feel of the park’s light and shadow. For pricing and availability check out the painting price list page. Continue reading Audubon Park Series
Nine years after I began this project, my book Creole Italian: Sicilian Immigrants and the Shaping of New Orleans Food Culture is now available! It is part of the Southern Foodways Alliance Studies in Culture, People, and Places series at the University of Georgia Press. I’m very excited to see how readers receive the work and am very thankful to the many people who have … Continue reading Creole Italian Now Available: Stops & Dates of Book Talks + Press!
One of the more magical places that we visited in the summer of 2017 was the ancient stone circle at Avebury in Wiltshire. Maintained by the National Trust, it was our introduction to touring the English countryside after taking the Holyhead ferry from Dublin and driving to our accommodations in neighboring Hampshire. It is true that the stones are ancient but I found the contours … Continue reading Avebury National Trust Stone Circle
Our trip through the English countryside in the summer of 2017 left Jess and I terribly moved by the juxtaposition of its profound beauty with its deep and often troubled history. Reminders of the long human inhabitation of Britain are everywhere, punctuated by driving down a hedgerow hemmed lane only to round a corner into an eleventh century churchyard. A photograph that Jess took as … Continue reading Continuity
My old friend Peter lives in Mexico most of the time now, but when he came back before Thanksgiving, the two of us headed up to Convent, Louisiana so I could photograph the Oaks of St. Joseph that line a magical sweep of the Mississippi River’s front across River Road from the Manresa Retreat House. I was concerned that I wouldn’t have enough sun, but … Continue reading Oaks of St. Joseph in the Fog
For weeks I had thought that by a decade later that I would be ready to unpack memories and share my experiences of the massacre that unfolded on the campus of Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. As this day drew nearer, that old familiar pressure band built in my mind. I always imagine it being like how dogs feel when a tropical depression blows in off … Continue reading Decennium
Greta, the day I brought her home in 2002. Like many moments that somehow change your life forever, I ended up the owner of a bird dog entirely by chance. An acquaintance whose father-in-law’s hunting dogs had a litter called to ask if I would like a free German Shorthaired Pointer puppy. I wasn’t familiar with the breed, but he emailed a few pictures of … Continue reading Gentle Pointers About Life Learned from Life with a Pointer: Remembering a Special Bird Dog
From left to right: Sony SLT-A77 with 16-50/2.8 zoom, Fuji X-T1 with 23/1.4R, and Honeywell Pentax SLR with 28/2.8 lens – circa 1965. Photo taken with an iPad! “It looks like it is from the ’80s.” That was the first thing my wife said about my Fuji X-T1 as I excitedly handed it to her. She didn’t mean it as a compliment. The blow to … Continue reading Rediscovering Something Old in Something New: Thoughts About My New Fuji X-T1 and Life
Justin A. Nystrom 