Unmasking Joy
The search for joy can feel like a lost cause today, yet Carnival in New Orleans is still a reliable source of it. For the initiated, it means creating wearable art that brings personal and communal joy. It may not be pretty or polite, but it is always inspiring. In New Orleans, Carnival practices have been evolving for generations, and the communities formed around them are durable and empowering. Those who continue them today are carrying a long-burning torch of liberating revelry.
This series emerges from three projects I have undertaken during 15 years of documenting Carnival: 1) street photography of diverse Carnival practices and perspectives; 2) diptych portraits of people in and out of season; and 3) still-life floral work constructed around items that are emblematic of the previous two Carnival themes, to create a celebration and memorial of their place in cultural history.
Jester head made in the 90s by Jonathan Bertuccelli, painted by Caroline Thomas, designer and painter at Royal Artists; butterflies and flowers by Dana Beuhler; jesterâs wand by Noah Church; ribbons from Saint Anne, with flowers from the garden where the krewe starts their parade.
Dressed as phoenixes for Mardi Gras 2022, the Society of Sainte Anne parades down Chartres Street towards Jackson Square on their way to the banks of the Mississippi River. Sainte Anne was founded in 1969 by a group of friends keen to revive the gorgeous, glorious street masking traditions.
Johnathan Bertuccelli works with clay that will be used to make a molding for a Rex float prop in November 2025. Beruccelliâs family moved to New Orleans in 1977 from Viareggio in Italy, where his father had worked as float builder for the city's carnival program. They help introduce the Italian style of Carnival in New Orleans starting Studio 3 in 83 as Bertuccelli graduated high school. He took over running the family business in the early 2000s. Johnathan Bertuccelli works with clay to make a mold for a Rex float prop, November 2025. Bertuccelliâs family moved to New Orleans in 1977 from Viareggio in Italy, where his father had worked as float builder, bringing the Italian style of Carnival to Mardi Gras.
Caroline Thomas is Art Director at Royal Artists and lead painter of Rex and Proteus, pictured in the Rex Den in 2022 and at the river on Mardi Gras day 2023.
Mardi Gras Artist Caroline Thomas' brush made into a bouquet with flowers grown around New Orleans. Thomas uses this and other brushes to paint floats and props for Krewe of Rex and Krewe of Proteus. The flowers and plants are from New Orleans gardens and assembled with assistance from Sainte Anne member Rob Joy. Artist Caroline Thomas' brush, used to paint floats and props for Krewe of Rex and Krewe of Proteus, grows into a bouquet with flowers and plants from New Orleans gardens, assembled with assistance from Sainte Anne member Rob Joy.
The Mystic Krewe of Hermes rolls down Napoleon Street during the final weekend of Carnival on February 13, 2026.
Members of the Society of Sainte Anne on Bourbon Street after their ball, February 14, 2026. The original Carnival processions were people going to and from balls in the 1800s. Later, wealthy men founded krewes like Comus, Proteus and Rex, adding floats to make formal parades.
The Storyville Stompers play at Vaughan's Lounge to a costumed crowd on 12th Night to kick off Carnival season in New Orleans January 6, 2026. Vaughanâs is owned by members of Sainte Anne and is a regular hang out for members of the krewe.
Doyle Cooper's trumpet. Musician Cooper, 32, grew up in New Orleans, started playing in 5th grade, and is now a member of the Storyville Stompers. The flowers and plants are from New Orleans gardens, assembled with assistance from Sainte Anne member Rob Joy.
A bloody tambourine lies on the floor of the First and Last Stop Bar after the Monogram Huntersâ practice on February 12, 2018. At Indian Practice, the tribe rehearse their individual rolls and the songs they sing when masking and meet other members of the community.
Monogram Hunters hold their first Indian Practices of the year at the First and Last Stop Bar in 2022. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, they were unable to hold any the previous year. The bar has been used as a practice space since the early 1900s.
Monogram Hunters Big Chief Tyrone âPieâ Stevenson works on Medicine Man Larryâs apron at the Chiefâs house in Slidell in February 2018. Big Chief Pie is proud to teach the culture the way he was taught it and to keep it going strong.
One of the first patches made by Monogram Hunters Big Queen Denise Smith in 2014 as part of a bouquet of local flowers, assembled with assistance from Sainte Anne member Rob Joy. In 2026 Big Chief Tyrone âPieâ Stevenson wore the patch on his red suit.
Monogram Hunters Big Chief Tyrone âPieâ Stevenson puts on his White Tiger suit with help from his son Tyrone Jr. at his home in Gentilly on Mardi Gras day 2015. Big Chief Pie started masking at age 12 in the early 1970s with Yellow Pocahontas.
Bruce Sunpie Barnes, Big Chief of the Northside Skull and Bone Gang, on Mardi Gras day 2020 and playing as Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots in their regular Saturday night gig of Afro-Louisianan music at Dos Jefes, 2023. Skull and Bone Gangs traditionally come out early on Mardi Gras day to wake the community.
Big Chief Kevin Goodman comes out in blue with the Flaming Arrows, Mardi Gras 2022, with left to right Big Queen Mecca, Bruce Merritt on tambourine, Lil Queen Kay Kay, Lil Queen China, and Baka La on tambourine. Big Chief Kevin first masked as a Lil Chief in a stroller in 1960.
Dressed as Phoenixes members of the Secret Society of Sainte Anne prepare to start their Mardi Gras day parade in 2022. The covid-19 pandemic had canceled parades the previous year making Mardi Gras 2022 all the more important for the city and all who made their way there for Carnival.
The Society of Sainte Anne crosses Decatur Street on their way to the river on Mardi Gras day, 2023. From its very beginnings in 1969, the Secret SocietyâÂÂs founders set the tone for an elegant, opulent, dramatic, glamorous, glittering aesthetic that persists to this day.
Jane Harvey Brown, Grand Marshal of The Storyville Stompers, leads the singing of âDown by the Riversideâ as the Society of Sainte Anne reaches the Mississippi River on Mardi Gras day, 2019. The krewe wore gold for their 50th anniversary year.
Mask Bouquet featuring a Carnival mask made by Gabriel Quirk and worn for Mardi Gras 2025 by Rob Joy, who joined the Secret Society of Sainte Anne in 1995. The flowers and plants are from New Orleans gardens and assembled in collaboration with Joy, a horticulturalist.