• Yes

“On the west side of St. Roch Avenue between St. Claude and Rampart in New Orleans stands an electric box; one of those pieces of utility infrastructure that must be doing important things but no one quite knows exactly what. It’s a feature of the city that is noticeable, but not memorable. It’s part of the furniture of the neighborhood. This one in particular is covered in posters and graffiti; always changing as a street artist, concert promoter, or political activist wheatpastes a new layer or spraypaints their tag. The weather and occasionally the box’s owner (or rather their employees) strip it back down or throw a layer of beige paint on it. I like to think of graffiti as the city authoring itself and I enjoy watching its evolution as new fragments come and go. Could I use art to make it noteworthy?

“My process began with photographing the box, both in situ, as it sat there, and close-up, like a crime scene photographer trying to capture every detail. This was done all at once. This became my source material. In the studio, I printed and cut up these photographs and recomposed them in as many ways as possible and set the collages against multi-colored backgrounds to underscore my point: Each one of these pictures is the same but different; a forgettable piece of the world, an overlooked element of place. Presented in this manner, the patina, texture, rhythm, life of the community becomes visible. Text becomes asemic. The electric box becomes poetry. If we can see the benign urban furniture of our neighborhoods as poetry, then perhaps we can see our neighbors as equally marvelous.”

Kadour will give an Artist Talk at 4:30PM on Saturday, December 5, 2026 during which he will share his thoughts on visual literacy, the role of photography in contemporary life, and the intersection of photography and collage. The exhibition is part of PhotoNOLA, an annual celebration of photography in New Orleans, produced by the New Orleans Photo Alliance in partnership with museums, galleries, and alternative venues citywide. Showcasing work by photographers near and far, the festival includes exhibitions, workshops, lectures, a portfolio review, gala and more. Learn more at www.photonola.org.