The Legendary Panorama Ray

When I first started out on my career as an independent artist and began making costumes, I was blessed to meet an artist that would inspire me for the rest of my life.

Panorama Ray was a brilliant and highly creative photographer. He owned one of only a few remaining original panoramic cameras in the world and was doing cutting edge work. The camera, over 100 years old in 1996 was originally owned by his friend Fred Hess,

who photographed many famous people in Atlantic City in the 1920s and 1930s. The photo here pictures the 3 Stooges, among others. Let me know if you see anyone else you recognize.

Panorama Ray, as Cabbage Town and the Atlanta arts scene, came to know him, had developed a technique with the camera that had never been done before. He would direct his subject to move through the frame as the camera made its rotation. This would create the illusion that the person was actually moving or being multiplied through the photo. Holly Hollywood was one of his favorite subjects and of course, he loved all of the people of Cabbage Town, which he photographed often. In those photos, you can find a rare glimpse at the life of a rural culture that somehow found its home in the tiny town of Cabbage Town, inside the city limits of Atlanta, Ga. 

 

He also traveled to Egypt to photograph the pyramids, New York City’s Time Square, Paris and ??? among others, creating stunning and historic works of art.

Panorama Ray was good friends with Jimmy Carter. Here is a rare image of one of the first Habitat for Humanity builds. He also photographed numerous pictures of Atlanta and just before his passing, he donated all of them to the Carter Center.

I had the great honor of working with him and together we created some works of art that I will forever be proud of. It was this initial introduction to working with such a brilliant photographer and creating living characters that would encourage me to move on to make costuming a key form of art in my career forevermore.

Sometimes he hand-colored the photos, as seen in these.

Sadly, I only got to be close to him for about a year before he passed on too early for his age. Twenty years later, his legend has never been forgotten by me. And it is my intention to ensure that Atlanta remembers him always. 

Cruelty Free Feathers- A New Era for Plumage in Fashion

I once was a Mardi Gras Costume Artist. 

Then one day I discovered what they do to the ostriches that my beloved ostrich plumage comes from.

They pluck them alive. I can only imagine the pain and can’t even describe the harm it causes those birds. I saw a video and I cried. It was removed from youtube soon after. To other birds, they hack off their backs and throw the rest away. No consciousness about using all of its parts or the harm being caused.

I had always thought that the feathers were collected once the birds molted. I was as naïve as most everyone else still is. I quit using manufactured feathers at that point and sought alternatives. This was in 2006. There were no alternatives. So I started the Feather Drop, an organization for the collection of cruelty-free feathers. 

And now I use only naturally molted feathers in my work. Even today the Feather Drop is still only one of a few very small businesses that collect cruelty-free feathers. I give them away mostly.

And I have discovered a few other artists who also use naturally molted feathers.

Artist Ka Amorastreya Serpentfeathers

Artist Lora Lee Rose

Artist Nicole Tierra Lobo- 

with feathers collected by the Feather Drop

Just so you know, no US native bird feathers are ever used. It is a crime to own these types of bird feathers. Only turkey and pheasant are legal to possess. 

And only a card-carrying Native American can own eagle or hawk feathers for use in ceremony and anyone caught without proper paperwork can be fined up to $10,000 for a single feather.

For many years the fashion industry killed and collected bird parts for use on hats. Feathers from songbirds or raptors such as owls and hawks were the norm in the fashion of the day.   

Some feathers became so valuable (such as those of the Florida Roseate Spoonbill which has pink feathers) that they were literally worth more than gold. But once the realization hit that these birds were going extinct, the practice was finally made illegal.  

In any EnRapturing Entertainment event, we strive to educate the public about the cruelty-free feather movement. Most of the feathers are acquired from pet care-givers and rescue organizations. Many are from exotic birds- such as peacocks, cockatoo, and parrots.

Here are a few examples of the headdresses that I have made with cruelty-free feathers. 

If you would like to help support this cause by donating feathers or funding or are interested in receiving feathers, please contact us through the Feather Drop Facebook page.

We take all sizes and condition of feathers. We donate native bird feathers to our Native Americans friends. 

Let's work together to can change the lives of inhumanely treated birds and the face of fashion.

 

Mardi Gras Indian Spirituality

For many years I have been fascinated with the Mardi Gras Indians. They are one of the things that made me fall in love with New Orleans. Usually, my love for a culture happens because there is something much more special about it than I know about at first. 

  

Photos by Roy Guste

My first Mardi Gras in New Orleans, after moving there, I made it a priority to seek out the Indians on Mardi Gras Day.

Being a costume artist myself, I wanted to see them up close. But I also wanted to hear the music that was their culture…and to experience what Mardi Gras was like for them.  It did not matter that I was a white girl in a chartreuse and fuchsia costume that completely stood out in a crowd where I was obviously an outsider. I just wanted to be close to the beauty and wonder of these New Orleans legends.

I made my way down to Claiborne Avenue and despite the warnings that I might get into trouble, I had no problems. I always went where my heart led me anyway. No one cared that I was there and I seemed to blend in.  But I soon learned that to catch them at all, I had needed to be out by the early morning. Most of the Indians had left for the Zulu parade hours earlier.  Seeing them up close would have to come later. 

It appears that the Mardi Gras Indians first came about in the late 1880s. Scholars have differing opinions on exactly how but some say that they emerged after a visit from the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show when a group of Native Americans in finely dressed hand crafted attire performed as a part of the exhibition and inspiring locals.  “Others believe that a connection between blacks and Native Americans was forged when New Orleans escaped slaves found asylum with Louisiana tribes”.

Photo by Bob Compton

In the early days, the Indians would fight on Mardi Gras day, to establish territory, sometimes to the death. Big Chief Tootie Montana helped put an end to that by getting the tribes to learn to respect each other. He knew African Americans had been put through enough and wanted to see the community bonding rather than rivals.  He was one of the first to begin to costume extravagantly and today Mardi Gras Day is a competition for who is the prettiest Indian. 

 Photo by Christopher Porsche West

Chief Tootie is also known for his innovations with designing the Indians suits. He developed the full-length trail crown that spread out horizontally from side to side instead of lengthwise sticking out behind the chief. In Tootie’s words “"Every piece was put on there one at a time. You pick up a sequin, you pick up a bead; even the beads around a stone are threaded and you hook them up one at a time. I use glue after my pieces are put together. I make my pieces like a puzzle."

But costuming is not all that the tradition is about. A deep almost ancestral influence exists where an Indian dances in full regalia on Mardi Gras Day, and can be a means for connecting with spirit. Almost like when a practitioner goes into trance during a voodoo ceremony, the Mardi Gras Indian becomes aware only of that deep connection that is occurring between himself and spirit and less aware of any pain or of being tired from dancing so long. 

Chief Tootie did so much to improve the lives of Mardi Gras Indians and create fellowship among African Americans in New Orleans throughout his own life till his dying day. He died a martyr. Standing up for the rights of musicians to perform in Jackson Square while at a City Council meeting in New Orleans City Hall on  June 27, 2005, when a heart attack struck him down. Who could’ve made more of an impression for the Indians and Musicians' rights than a legend like this man? 

 Photo by Cathy Anderson