As the winner of the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812, and the savior of the city, I can understand why Andrew Jackson would be honored with a special place in the heart of the Big Easy.

He grew up in poverty, but became a cotton planter, relying on the backs of up to 300 slaves for his prosperity. He was also, of course, our 7th President. From that lofty perch he presided over the forced removal of thousands of Native Americans to Indian Territory and bears responsibility for the Trail of Tears. He was a founder of the Democratic Party, which, until the 1960s, was the party of slavery.

His image has been on numerous stamps and graced the twenty dollar bill for as long as I can remember. Lately though, I've heard talk of removing his likeness from the twenty and replacing it with Harriet Tubman, the heroic abolitionist. While it would be nice to see a woman's face on some of our paper currency, one has to wonder about the choice of Tubman. One senses she would understand this "honor" as a defeat, that her image had been co-opted by the masters of capitalism - the system that brought us the slavery she fought against her entire life. The irony of ironies. Better to leave the honor with ol' Andy, or perhaps someone more current and mercenary, say Hillary Clinton.

From the Levee in Lee Walker's Front Yard, Ninth Ward, New Orleans, LA 2015

Sometimes, when a photographer is lucky and standing in the right spot, when his timing, too, is spot on, he can produce an image that causes a viewer to look twice. It often has to do with framing and point-of-view, and how you transform a three-dimensional subject into a two-dimensional representation on paper or screen. It's part of the magic of photography - the ability to make someone ask, "What is going on here?"

I love pictures that are based in fact, that are believable. I want to come away from a picture and assume what I've just looked at actually happened and has an identifiable reality. But I most like photographs that tell stories, ones that take that reality, that evidence, and give it a twist, a blur, a ghostly presence that encourages more stories, new perspectives, and perhaps different ways of seeing well-worn subjects.

Click the photograph to enlarge, it needs to be big.

Pictures & Words