Oil Spill

Friday April 8th, 2011

As we approach the anniversary of the Gulf oil spill on April 20th, I’m looking at the images of New Orleans-based photographer Matthew D. White. ”I did four flyovers of the spill last summer through the Gulf Restoration Network, LSU Coastal Science Department, and one shoot in a two-seater with just me and the pilot,” Matthew told me. His images were also used by Dr. Ivor van Heerden, an LSU scientist who was removed from his job for criticizing the Army Corps of Engineers over poor levee construction. Matthew was also on the ground at Grand Isle and in lower Plaquemines Parish, where most of the oil washed ashore.

It goes without saying that as New Orleans resident, this was serious business for Matthew. Not only was he infuriated by attempts by certain Louisiana politicians to manipulate the event, he was fully aware that his photography was an intervention against BP’s attempt to control access to the site. He explained:

The worst thing about the spill was the obvious effort by BP and others to keep anyone from seeing the oil. Grand Isle was completely overrun with regular Army, National Guard, BP officials, port police, state police, local police, and company officials, all of whom thought they were the ones in charge. It made getting anywhere near the oil extremely difficult. Beaches were cleaned up for TV shoots and visiting politicians, while other beaches were left to rot in the goo. I was kicked off an official Coast Guard boat excursion to see a pelican nesting sight because I didn’t have a press pass. What the public was shown in the news and on TV about the spill was only the tip of the iceberg, because of the enormous effort made to keep the public from seeing it. The whole thing was orchestrated by BP. Everyone’s summer was ruined. No swimming, fishing, or tourism.

Not only was the event troubling, Matthew actually found it to be a somewhat uncomfortable process:

The experience shooting on the ground was a very different thing, especially on Grand Isle. Most obvious was the smell of the oil, which gave me a constant headache and mild nausea that would ease when driving away. I have no idea how Grand Isle residents took that for the whole summer. Seeing the oil on the beaches, along with many dead fish, sea turtles, and mixed in with the usual detritus made me wonder how on earth they were ever going to clean all this mess up. All the beaches were closed, but I deliberately ignored “no trespassing” signs to get on the beach to get closeups of oil on jetties and in the sand.

-Asad