Cancer Alley: Istrouma to the Gulf of Mexico

This photo-collage essay travels from Istrouma (Baton Rouge) to the Gulf of Mexico, illuminating seen and unseen realities along the banks of the Mississippi River, in a territory of south Louisiana known as “Cancer Alley.” Layers of evidence found in the public record, ranging from colonial renderings to US Geological Survey maps, in addition to photographic documentation, genealogical ties, and historical facts, are used to illustrate how colonial foundations have set a precedence for multinational corporations to perpetuate a legacy of extractive and shortsighted land and water use practices. Indigenous names and histories of a time prior to colonization help to redefine the remembrance of sites and strategic locations, contrasting past and present with the natural and industrial manmade manipulations that have complicated the Mississippi River Delta’s landscape and legacy.