The Visionary World of James Oroc

Travel

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:35:20 +0000

A Gallery of photography from my virtually never-ending travels …

Freaks and Festivals

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:27:19 +0000

Mardi Gras, Halloween, New Orleans underground, Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, the Scala Gay Ball, Symbiosis, Lightning-In-A-Bottle, Burning Man, March 4th Marching Band, Archedream Black Light Dance Troupe, and more …

New Orleans Second-lines and Jazz Funerals

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:18:23 +0000

New Orleans Second-Lines and Jazz Funerals. These parades are called “second-lines’ because back in the day of Jim Crow, the parades in New Orleans were separated in two halves – the whites up front, and the blacks in the back. Well, the real party was clearly in the back, and the negro musicians developed a unique beat that has been immortalized their position in those parades – to this day it is referred to as a ’second-line beat’ and all New Orleans funk is based upon it. While raucous second-line parades with hip-hop rhyming brass bands with names like The Rebirth Brass Band and The Soul Rebels are held by ‘Social and Pleasure Clubs’ on every Sunday of ‘Second-Line season’ (Labor day Weekend till early summer hen it gets too hot), a Jazz Funeral is a different kind of second-line that is held in honor of beloved New Orleans musicians when they die. They always start with a slow funeral dirge and then burst into a wild expression of joy and can be remarkable musical experiences since virtually all of New Orleans jazz musicians (and especially the horn players) will come out for a big second-line, and there is nothing like the sound of dozens and dozens of tubas, trumpets, trombones, saxaphones, alto and baritone, blasting down the cobbled narrow streets of the French Quarter. A number of the b/w photos included in this gallery are from the first major Jazz Funeral after Hurricane Katrina, for the Preservation Hall Jazz band trumpeter and band leader, John Brunious.

Mardi Gras Indians

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:01:48 +0000

The Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans, an elusive subject since they are essentially black secret-societies (tribes) that ‘mask’ three days a year – Mardi Gras Day, Super-Sunday, and St. Josephs night – and wander along irregular routes through-out the poorer parts of town. These tribes are made up of generally lower-middle class African-Americans who spend hundreds of hours each year sewing their incredible feather and beaded costumes, only to destroy them after Super Sunday each year, only to start work on a ‘new suit’. The chants and tribal songs of the Mardi Gras Indians are credited with inventing New Orleans famed ’second-line beat’, and the Indian inspired bands like the Wild Magnolias and the Wild Tchoupitulas created some of New Orleans best 1970’s funk, and still do today … For me, St Jospehs night is my favorite, it is a surreal and some times slightly scary scene watching two feathered ‘Big Cheifs’ squaring off for a shit-talking show-down about how good they can each sew, all while the neighborhood Chris-Rock-with-a 40-Oz is providing a running commentary in the background…. It took me years to start getting decent shots of the Mardi Gras Indians in their natural habitat, and these days Im trying to capture the sense of movement and music thatthe Indians possess in those magical moments on the streets of their own neighborhoods, right around Second and Dryades …

Burning Man.

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:47:23 +0000

Best of Burning Man 2004-2009. A gallery of the art, art-cars, and people that occupy Black Rock City each year and create Burning Man, an annual art-music-underground culture event in Nevada, USA. With its emphasis on both art and community, Burning Man has become both the first twenty-first century art-movement and a international cultural movement all of its own. I consider myself at the core a Burning Man artist since Burners have my primary audience and supporters, and I have contributed most specifically with my book (Tryptamine Palace) early versions of which I gifted on the Playa in 2006 and 2007, and by building art-cars such as The Lady Sassafras, but I also consider my on-going attempt to document my years at Burning Man – which hopefully I will publish as a photo-book some day – as a contribution to the possibilities of the Burning Man movement

High Times.

admin — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:57:26 +0000

2010 is starting with a bang with a three-page interview and book-excerpt in High Times, the original bible of the counter-culture itself! Pretty psychedelic seeing my face in tis pages, especially since this was the first time I allowed a photograph with an interview … I have realised I cant escape the 21st century fascination with the cult of the personality any longer.

” Not since Terence McKenna have I read a book on entheoh=gens that was so thoroughly entertaining, well-researched, and informative – and with a mind blowing hypothesis at its core …

So if your looking for a book that skillfully weaves togehter mysticism, cutting-edge science and far-out story-telling, Tryptamine Palace is “highly” recommended.”

Psychedelic Desert Toads – A conversation with James Oroc, author of Tryptamine Palace.

High Times, Jan 2010 – Elise McDonough.

Now thats what I call a review!