Perique: Photographs by Charles Martin
November 29, 2012 – February 2, 2013
Reception & Book Signing: Sunday, Dec 2, 4-5:30pm
The Historic New Orleans Collection’s Williams Research Center
410 Chartres St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
Hours: Tues – Sat, 9:30am – 4:30pm
The Historic New Orleans Collection’s Williams Research Center will host an exhibition of photographs by Charles Martin, who has spent eight years documenting St. James Parish’s tobacco-growing tradition. Called perique, the tobacco is prized by connoisseurs as the strongest and most flavorful of tobacco varietals, and the 30-square-mile tract of land in St. James Parish is the only place in the world it is harvested. The labor-intensive cultivation process dates to the early 19th century; its rituals have descended as occupational folklore through a handful of local families. Martin’s photographs epitomize local history in their painstaking documentation of a place-specific process.
More information here.
