Michael P. Smith Collection | Historic New Orleans Collection
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Allison “Tootie” Montana, big chief of the Yellow Pocahontas.
Photograph by Michael P. Smith © HNOC,
2007.0103.2.122
Allison “Tootie” Montana, big chief of the Yellow Pocahontas.
Photograph by Michael P. Smith © HNOC,
2007.0103.2.122
Signature Collections
Michael P. Smith Collection
Smith documented the music, parading, and Black folk traditions of New Orleans for decades.
Signature Collections
Michael P. Smith Collection
Smith documented the music, parading, and Black folk traditions of New Orleans for decades.
1968–2004
2007.0103, photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
Michael P. Smith (1937–2008) was a celebrated photographer who spent more than 30 years documenting the musical and cultural happenings of New Orleans. Born to a prominent family in Metairie, Smith attended Tulane University and worked as a staff photographer in Tulane’s jazz archive, today known as the Hogan Archive of New Orleans Music and New Orleans Jazz. This experience, coupled with his documentation of drummer Paul Barbarin’s funeral in 1969, solidified his resolve to “
follow the music
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” for the rest of his life.
Show-and-Tell
HNOC’s Catie Sampson goes inside the vault to show some of Michael P. Smith’s early Jazz Fest photographs.
Video by Dee Allen, digital communications strategist
Second Line Parades
Dancing in the rain, Young Men Olympian Jr. annual parade, 1985.
2007.0103.2.143
The Rollers Social and Pleasure Club, 1997.
2007.0103.8.1787
Avenue Steppers Marching Club, led by Richard “King” Matthews, 1982.
2007.0103.2.132
Young Men Olympian Jr., 1991.
2007.8.1771
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
Dancing in the rain, Young Men Olympian Jr. annual parade, 1985.
2007.0103.2.143
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
The Rollers Social and Pleasure Club, 1997.
2007.0103.8.1787
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
Avenue Steppers Marching Club, led by Richard “King” Matthews, 1982.
2007.0103.2.132
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
Young Men Olympian Jr., 1991.
2007.8.1771
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
Smith was a constant presence at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, documenting the event from its inception in 1970 at Congo Square and continuing in the decades following the festival’s move to the Fair Grounds in 1972. As the crowds grew and the schedules lengthened, Smith was there to capture it all. When he retired in 2004, an exhibition at the Fair Grounds grandstand honored his role as the “keeper of the Jazz Fest family album,” as described by the
Times-Picayune
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Jazz Fest
View of Danny Barker as grand marshal during a parade at Jazz Fest, 1974.
2007.01030.8.91
Allen Toussaint talking onstage with Allison Minor, 1989.
2007.0103.8.1308
Irma Thomas at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, 1976.
2007.0103.4.666
Fats Domino, 1980.
2007.0103.8.428
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
View of Danny Barker as grand marshal during a parade at Jazz Fest, 1974.
2007.01030.8.91
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
Allen Toussaint talking onstage with Allison Minor, 1989.
2007.0103.8.1308
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
Irma Thomas at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, 1976.
2007.0103.4.666
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
Fats Domino, 1980.
2007.0103.8.428
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
Smith also trained his lens on Black parading and vernacular traditions, including jazz funerals, social and pleasure club parades (also known as second lines), and Mardi Gras Indians. He paid special attention to New Orleans’s Spiritualist churches, characterized by charismatic worship practices often led by women. These subjects formed the basis of HNOC’s 2009 publication,
In the Spirit: The Photography of Michael P. Smith from the Historic New Orleans Collection
Spiritualist Churches
Church members form a protective circle around a woman “in the spirit” at Infant Jesus of Prague Spiritual Church, 1974.
2007.0103.4.30
Ordination Service at Infant Jesus of Prague Spiritual Church, 1984.
2007.0103.3.18
Black Hawk Feast, Israelite Universal Divine Spiritual Church, 1980.
2007.0103.2.73
Reverend Mother Lydia Gilford, Infant Jesus of Prague Spiritual Church, 1974.
2007.0103.2.1
Photograph by Michael P. Smith © Historic New Orleans Collection
Church members form a protective circle around a woman “in the spirit” at Infant Jesus of Prague Spiritual Church, 1974.
2007.0103.4.30
Photograph by Michael P. Smith © Historic New Orleans Collection
Ordination Service at Infant Jesus of Prague Spiritual Church, 1984.
2007.0103.3.18
Photograph by Michael P. Smith © Historic New Orleans Collection
Black Hawk Feast, Israelite Universal Divine Spiritual Church, 1980.
2007.0103.2.73
Photograph by Michael P. Smith © Historic New Orleans Collection
Reverend Mother Lydia Gilford, Infant Jesus of Prague Spiritual Church, 1974.
2007.0103.2.1
Photograph by Michael P. Smith © Historic New Orleans Collection
Smith’s appreciation for regional music and culture extended beyond photography: He was one of the “Fabulous Fo’teen,” a group of music lovers who
cofounded Tipitina’s
in 1977 to provide a dedicated performance space for New Orleans artists who had been overlooked by the city’s main venues, such as Professor Longhair and James Booker.
Black Masking Indians
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux of the Golden Eagles sewing a suit, 1974.
2007.0103.2.78
View of “Alligator June” Johnson Jr. of the Wild Magnolias demonstrating how to sew to three children, 1973.
2007.0103.2.124
Two members of the Wild Magnolias sewing, 1974.
2007.0103.4.122
Members of the Yellow Pocahontas sewing at Victor Harris’s house, 1984.
2007.0103.4.186
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux of the Golden Eagles sewing a suit, 1974.
2007.0103.2.78
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
View of “Alligator June” Johnson Jr. of the Wild Magnolias demonstrating how to sew to three children, 1973.
2007.0103.2.124
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
Two members of the Wild Magnolias sewing, 1974.
2007.0103.4.122
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
Members of the Yellow Pocahontas sewing at Victor Harris’s house, 1984.
2007.0103.4.186
Photographs by Michael P. Smith © HNOC
In 2007, HNOC acquired Smith’s extensive archive, comprising film, prints, slides, and even audio recordings. Through his photographs, we are able to trace the evolution of Jazz Fest from its humble beginnings to a highly produced event attended by half a million visitors every year. Smith’s images of the music festival, like all of his work, highlight the photographer’s deep commitment to preserving and showcasing the musical and cultural traditions of his New Orleans community.
By Catie Sampson, digital collections archivist
April 30, 2025
Explore the Michael P. Smith Collection
Browse thousands of photos, archival videos, audio clips, and more in HNOC’s online catalog.
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In the Spirit: The Photography of Michael P. Smith from the Historic New Orleans Collection
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