I grew up in Livingston, Louisiana, an hour outside New Orleans.  I moved to New Orleans after graduating from high school at eighteen.  It was the time before terms like non-gender conforming were in vogue, nor was being gay.I was referred to as “nelly,” a term used for effeminate gay men.

 

My early life was influenced by favorite writers Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Patricia Nell Warren, and a book called, “Edie,’ by Jean Stein that introduced me to the world of Andy Warhol’s New York art world.  Records ntroduced me to not only music but to the world of photography.

 

I moved here in 1984 after graduating at 17  to work at the World’s Fair as an usher.  The LGBTI community at that time was a colorful one that welcomed me with loving arms, sharing their stories and teaching me the history of the French Quarter that used to be.

 

I’ve spent most of my adult life in and around the French Quarter. I moved to New York after Katrina, but New Orleans has always been home, drawing me back.