Hurricane Season by Hannah Modigh

“The suite has been photographed in southern Louisiana in the United States. There, the threat of hurricanes arrives annually, but the storm around the people is felt daily. The storms behind the doors, inside people. Be prepared for the outbreak, the recovery, and the constant need to start over. Memories that never have time to heal but are repressed – as far as it goes. In a macho landscape it is more acceptable to be angry than scared.

I was interested in Louisiana for the first time because of its violent side. New Orleans is one of the most violent cities in the United States. Louisiana is also the state with the most prisoners per capita.  Poverty, violence is directly related to the hurricanes, but also much based on a long period of segregation, where racist views are inherited.

Hurricane Season is a metaphor for an atmosphere of living on the verge of eruption and a sense that something is still lurking in the calm. Hurricane Season is not about hurricanes, not about South Louisiana and not about poverty. It is about me, and about you. A mental state. We can call it a sense of being between disasters. Something scary happened, and it will likely happen again. It’s quiet now, but beneath the surface lurks uncertainty, fear and anger.

During my time in Louisiana I realised that fears of hurricanes and the undertone of aggression by large parts of society come from the same source. Fear and anxiety are natural reactions to feelings of threat, but they are passivity and unproductive. In a context where the weakness is undesirable, even dangerous, there is a gain in transforming fear into action and anger.”