WILLIAM GREINER: "Fallen Paradise (New Orleans – 1995

WILLIAM GREINER: "Fallen Paradise (New Orleans – 1995 – 2005)"

© William Greiner, "Pink Trailer Metairie, New Orleans LA", 2005

William Greiner is a man obsessed… William Greiner is a man in love. William can feel it… his heart aches… his heart will not let go, it refuses to give up... but, his love has been violated, his love has been injured and scarred, left for dead. Much of her left him, gone in the sad shadow of a storm, gone in the twinkling of an eye, taken away in massive act of violence and rape… much of her taken, never to return. Memories of her, fragments of her… the scent, her colors… her sounds… her things... some of these remain but much of William Greiner’s sweet “New Orleans” has gone away. William Greiner's obsession is still there. He still hunts for her… he see's all of her things, her clothes, her homes... he still dream’s about her, he still wishes that the tragedy, the loss... the decay that happened before the fall... that it would not have occurred. It still run’s through his mind… he still see’s things like they were, he still imagines things as they would have been had she not been neglected... had she not been left alone. His dreams at times almost feel real… he can still see her beauty as it was, it feels real... but, it is not the same.

William’s “New Orleans”, the subject of his new book, “Fallen Paradise (New Orleans – 1995 – 2005)”, is a woman whose wild and best years were already behind her… her makeup and her clothes partially hid that fact but she was still very beautiful… no one was as intriguing… she was full of a mystical and dangerous history… she was full of charm, full of voodoo magic… but she was already hurting before her violent and sudden attack. Her gritty but golden patina was there, but partly a mirage… her luscious charm hid her loneliness… her life was special, but it was a paradise gone... a paradise that had been lost… her fate… was already sealed. This woman was ravaged… ravaged by neglect, abandoned by her lovers... left vulnerable due to cruelty, left alone to struggle. This pre-Katrina New Orleans was already sick… and as Greiner painfully knows… vulnerable, isolated and alone at the time of her attack. The attack would come violently and then... no one would come to her rescue, no one would come to her aide... the police would not believe her story and they would not come, she would be left for dead, injured, cold, violated... alone. Dead or still barely alive, she was left to fend on her own.

William’s photographs come from love… born in New Orleans and working for years in the city, his inspiration would come from this "woman". Her everyday life would seduce him… her saturated palette of color would please him. His photographs are the embodiment of this love. What some may call “snapshot aesthetic” or the vernacular, what William Eggleston pioneered... this simply a road taken to express this love, this approach is a way to frame William’s beloved city. His skillful touch brings her to us to share with him. His aesthetic, his eyesight… his choices are William’s personal vision but it is a shared vision… he does justice to her downfall, he does justice to this decline… in his eye’s Greiner’s subjects downfall is seen… her bad health is evident but her once glowing beauty is still there. His pictures give her wings for a moment, you can see what once was… you can see her beauty…. and also know what is to become... was was already occurring.

William Greiner will always have a broken heart… but he will get along and nurture the memories - he will have hope. The dreams of her as she once was will still be around… the remnants of her will be passed to future generations… these dreams and fragments will stand… passed down and pass on. And he will have hope... like others, hope for her return.

Own his lover’s patina, own her memories… own her hope.

"Fallen Paradise"

Limited edition of 100 signed and numbered examples, hardbound , 28 pages ,

26 color plates, 11 ½ x 15 1/8” , each book includes an original signed c-print 4 x 6”.

To order contact:

WILLIAM GREINER photographs
T. 225-803-0185
E. fotoart1@cox.net
www.williamgreiner.com

Regards,

Doug Rickard

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