AT A GLANCE:
Photographer Pat Semansky first went to New Orleans on a Santa Clara immersion trip. Now he lives there and spends his time documenting ongoing attempts to rebuild the Big Easy.
"My first visit to New Orleans was for a weeklong immersion trip during my senior year at Santa Clara. It had been four months since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. The chaos that ensued in New Orleans after the levees broke violated the image I had of my own country, of its abilities and its priorities.... After I stopped volunteering, New Orleans' pull on me was too strong to let me leave. Today, I live in a normal, intact house and am working as a photographer."
Semansky's photography has appeared in newspapers including the Washington Post, Boston Globe, and USA Today. Continue reading his story, and see a slideshow of his photos, at Santa Clara Magazine online.
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