On the Batture

• Prize
• Photographer
  Eleanor Owen Kerr, United States
• Studio
  Eleanor Owen Kerr Photography

On the Batture”

Part documentary, part fairy tale, “On the Batture” is an
exploration of the no-man’s land between the Mississippi River
and its levees. The batture is ephemeral. It ebbs, flows, and
reforms, controlled only by the whims of the river. Sometimes
under water, sometimes choked by vines and dense undergrowth,
the batture is a transitional space fluctuating with the Mississippi
River’s powerful pulse.

This project began with a walk over the levee at a friend’s house.
Stepping across the crown of the levee, I entered a different world.
I was immediately engulfed by the powerful mystery and primal
energy in this ribbon of wild land. The batture is separated from
highways and urban life by the mere hundred foot wide ribbon of
levee between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. It is bound on the
other side by a half mile wide shipping artery for ocean-going
vessels. But on the batture itself, elemental forces of nature reign.

Like fairy tales, which have one foot in reality and one in magical
realms, these pictures revisit a time and place when, as in
childhood, magic and reality can converge. My exploration of the
batture focuses on those moments of convergence, when our
preconceptions are fluid enough, child-like enough, to allow us to
revisit the magical realms in the landscape of reality.

Awards Kerr’s photographs are in the permanent collections of the LSU Museum, the U.S. State Department as well as numerous private and corporate collections across the country. She has been featured in publications such as The Photo Review, One One Thousand, SHOTS Journal of Photography, Southern Photography and Silvershots Journal of Fine Art Photography. Kerr’s work is exhibited at galleries and museums nationally and internationally. Her work has been recognized with awards from gallerists and curators as well as groups such as International Photography Awards, Black and White Spider Awards, PX3 and Women in Photography International.

Kerr studied at Maine Photographic Workshops and apprenticed with Paul Caponigro,
Kerr’s photographs are in the permanent collections of the LSU Museum, the U.S. State Department as well as numerous private and corporate collections across the country. She has been featured in publications such as The Photo Review, One One Thousand, SHOTS Journal of Photography, Southern Photography and Silvershots Journal of Fine Art Photography. Kerr’s work is exhibited at galleries and museums nationally and internationally. Her work has been recognized with awards from gallerists and curators as well as groups such as International Photography Awards, Black and White Spider Awards, PX3 and Women in Photography International.

Kerr studied at Maine Photographic Workshops and apprenticed with Paul Caponigro,
Kerr’s photographs are in the permanent collections of the LSU Museum, the U.S. State Department as well as numerous private and corporate collections across the country. She has been featured in publications such as The Photo Review, One One Thousand, SHOTS Journal of Photography, Southern Photography and Silvershots Journal of Fine Art Photography. Kerr’s work is exhibited at galleries and museums nationally and internationally. Her work has been recognized with awards from gallerists and curators as well as groups such as International Photography Awards, Black and White Spider Awards, PX3 and Women in Photography International.

Kerr studied at Maine Photographic Workshops and apprenticed with Paul Caponigro.

Kerr’s photographs are in the permanent collections of the LSU Museum, the U.S. State Department as well as numerous private and corporate collections across the country. She has been featured in publications such as The Photo Review, One One Thousand, SHOTS Journal of Photography, Southern Photography and Silvershots Journal of Fine Art Photography. Kerr’s work is exhibited at galleries and museums nationally and internationally. Her work has been recognized with awards from gallerists and curators as well as groups such as International Photography Awards, Black and White Spider Awards, PX3 and Women in Photography International.

Kerr studied at Maine Photographic Workshops and apprenticed with Paul Caponigro,