New Orleans Photo Alliance - New Orleans de Nuit: Open Call

In 1933 the Hungarian-French photographer Gyula Halász, better known by his pseudonym Brassaï, published “Paris de Nuit”, a collection of images exploring nocturnal Paris in the early 1930s. These images were made during Brassaï’s lengthy nighttime wanderings through the streets, cafés and hidden corners of Paris, revealing a mysterious, sometimes seedy city not meant for tourists: prostitutes, lovers in shadowy corners, empty rain-slicked streets, night workers. Brassaï’s revolutionary work elevated night photography to an art form and continues to influence artists to this day.

Conjuring Brassaï’s spirit, we put forth this call to all photographers whose souls resonate with the night. Brassaï once prowled the rain-slicked cobblestones of Paris capturing moments never meant for daylight. Nearly 100 years later, we turn our gaze to New Orleans, where beneath the veneer of revelry and tourism beats a heart equally profound and enigmatic.

We call to those who feel night photography is not merely documentation, but alchemy – a transformation of the ordinary into the ethereal through the interplay of darkness and light. The true New Orleans night reveals itself only to the patient and courageous, those who stray beyond the safety and comfort of the daylight. Wander where tourists fear to tread. Linger where instinct tells you something unseen pulses. Capture New Orleans’ nocturnal soul not as an outsider looking in, but as an ingrained accomplice in its mystery.