Cherchez la Femme: New Orleans Women
Foreword’s Lit Hit—Indie Books That’ll Blow You Away
Inspired by the 2017 Women’s March, Cheryl Gerber creates a photographic exploration of the women who keep the thriving, diverse heart of New Orleans pounding strong in Cherchez la Femme. Across eleven chapters with focus ranging from spiritual leaders to Baby Dolls, vibrant photographs display both the renowned and everyday women of New Orleans, including world-famous chefs, thriving entrepreneurs, and a crowd bathed in candlelight during a Take Back the Night march. While the brilliant colors of festooned and feathered Carnival performers claim their prominent, anticipated space, more muted photographs hold a quiet power as they depict activists marching calmly past flag-waving white supremacists, their eyes averted as one woman holds her crucifix necklace aloft; or a famous jazz musician perched on a worn wooden piano bench in her home, family photographs and sentimental trinkets all but obscuring the piano behind her. A photographic record as heartfelt and varied as the Big Easy itself, Cherchez la Femme is a proud testament to the strength and beauty of New Orleans women.
Cherchez la Femme: New Orleans Women
Cheryl Gerber
University Press of Mississippi
Hardcover $40.00 (272pp)
978-1-4968-2520-9
Danielle Ballantyne
