Purpose and Passion: Photography by Eric Waters The New Orleans Jazz Museum At The Old U.S. MintApril 4, 2019Eric Waters studied under the late New Orleans Photojournalist Marion Porterand has been a professional photographer for more than 40 years. In 1985he founded Ebonimages, a non-profit organization, to catalog and exhibitthe collection of Marion Porter’s Photo News.Waters decided early in hiscareer that New Orleans street culture had significant historical value and was extremely worthy of documentation. Through his relationship with Porter, he was taught to see the world around him in a way that he had not noticed before.“A cultural quilt is what I want to create, a visual quiltof images that will meld all of the African-Retentive Cultures of New Orleans,” says Waters. “I strive to be a “Memory Keeper’ who “Bears Witness”to a Culture steeped in African-American mores, to give vision, awareness, and respect to its people.”Waters’ work has appeared on CD covers forJazz artists such as Bob French, Victor Goins, Juanita Brooks, and Smokey Johnson. His vibrant and energetic scenes of second lines and Mardi Gras Indians have also appeared in local and national magazines, newspapers, brochures, and show bills.