Cajun Culture - Portraits of South Louisiana

Blog overview

Capturing the essence of musicians on film is quite difficult. Dutch photographer Emile Waagenaar succeeds in doing just that. In his book Arrête pas la musique! Portraits of South Louisiana, he showcases Cajun musicians in their homes and cities. His black-and-white photographs create an image not just of a musician, but also one of the Cajun culture of the Deep South. In this blog series we will present a few of his pictures with commentary from Emile Waagenaar himself.

Old and Young

By Emile Waagenaar

October 10, 2019

  When Milton Vanicor, 90 years old in this picture, was still a child, his father made this 1-string fiddle for him. It only sounded good if it was a ‘Prince Albert’ cigar box. His wife Odile used to arrange the financial agreements for the bands Milton played in, among others The Lacassine Playboys with …...

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See You Later, Alligator!

By Emile Waagenaar

October 8, 2019

  Shelton Manual was blind. Long ago he was blinded by a bullet during the hunt. So he could not see what his room looked like. He had a housekeeper who benefited from it and had taken half the interior of his house. Shelton’s neighbor welcomed us warmly and showed us to the living room. …...

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Eddie, Eddie, Ervin, Rodney and Doris Leon

By Emile Waagenaar

October 3, 2019

  I also visited several small but world-famous sound studios such as Eddie Shuler’ s Goldband Records in Lake Charles, not far from the Texan border. A small dark recording studio where in 1959 Eddie recorded the first single by Dolly Parton, then 13 years old, called ‘ Puppy Love’ . But also in the …...

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Cajun Musicians At Home

By Emile Waagenaar

October 1, 2019

  In those first years I traveled from here to there, on roads like the LA 82, passing the Rockefeller State Wildlife Refuge near Grand Chenier. No idea where I would end up. But the more musicians I got to know, who all referred me to other musicians, the more I got the idea that …...

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A Warm and Humid Evening in Louisiana, 1982

by Emile Waagenaar

September 26, 2019

  On a warm and humid evening in May 1982 I got off the Greyhound bus in Lafayette. I found myself standing at the crossroads of another culture, across from the Grant Street Dance Hall. I went into a bar where a band was playing, they told me it was Zydeco. Good music, but not …...

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Cajun Origins in Acadie

by Emile Waagenaar

September 24, 2019

  The Cajuns trace their history back to French people who left their homes in the 1600’s and ventured to Acadie (today’s Nova Scotia, Canada). Among these migrants were carpenters, notaries, even prostitutes. Later, many French farmers and fishermen also moved there. This is a passenger registration list from 1636, from the Archives Départementales de …...

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How I Discovered Cajun Music

By Emile Waagenaar

September 18, 2019

This is the first of a series of blogs for the John Adams by the Dutch photographer Emile Waagenaar, author of the book ‘Arrête pas la musique! – Portraits of South Louisiana’ for which he photographed Cajun musicians at home. The blog will appear biweekly on our website.  It all started in 1979. On the …...

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