Marriott to occupy hotel building
February 28, 2008
Troy Anthony Lirette
March 3, 2008
GUMBO STAFF REPORT
The work of local photographer Henry Cancienne is on exhibit at Southdown Plantation House March 6 through April 26.
A well-traveled shutterbug, Cancienne’s vast work was shot all across America. But some of his most noted works were shot right here in his own backyard. Photos of Louisiana’s cypress swamps and coastal marshes, the Gulf beaches, bayous and sugarcane field, plantation and mansions and the simple Creole and Acadian cottages are a gentle reminder of how beautiful the Bayou State’s coast really is.
Whether he’s focusing on swamp wildlife, shrimp boats or a bald eagle fishing in Bayou Lafourche near his home, the local cameraman’s photos uncover the richness of south Louisiana.
“This is the cornerstone of my existence,” Cancienne said. “Trying to document the world as it is, because everything around us is slipping away. When I was young, I did not understand the significance – that the world I knew would not exist in a few decades.”
“As we live our lives, we thing things will always be the same, but we are only living in a snapshot and it will be very different in the future, as it was very different in the past,” he explained. “My photographs are a record.”
And Cancienne’s “records” are well traveled, as well. He’s been published in a number of magazines, including Southern Breeze, Country Discoveries, Country Roads and Jewish Living of the South. His photos have also been appeared in newspapers and tourism promotions, and in the recently published “Acadian Plantation Country Cookbook.”
Cancienne is at work on other books that will showcase his photography.
Library fans may also have seen his photographs exhibited in Houma, Lockport and Zachary.
And his interests are as rich as his pictures. A Nicholls State University graduate, Cancienne holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in science and education. He is a retired educator and petroleum worker, and currently is employed by the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office. He is also a volunteers with the Lockport Volunteer Fire Department. And, when not behind a camera lens, Cancienne enjoys ornithology, geology, highpointing (climbing the highest peaks in each state), astronomy, aviation, spelunking, coin and stamp collecting, waterfalls, computers, flight simulations and the space program.
To view the exhibit “The Photography of Henry Cancienne,” visit Southdown Plantation House/The Terrebonne Museum Tuesday through Saturday, between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission to the exhibit only is $2. An additional fee will be charged for the full museum tour.
For more information, call (985) 851-0154.
