NEW ORLEANS – The city of New Orleans experienced freezing temperatures last week that caused some frozen pipes and plants, but decades ago you could have added the frozen lake to that list too.
Despite a degree in engineering, when James Macaluso got his first 35 mm camera back in 1972, life changed.
“Photography, I would call it my passion,” Macaluso said.
That passion as a photographer and documentarian was tested on a cold, bitter day nearly thirty years ago that began with something he heard on the radio.
“ ‘Lake Pontchartrain is frozen,’” Macaluso reminisced. “When he said Lake Pontchartrain was frozen, I mean, naturally where am I going?”
But the day was Christmas Day 1989. He had two boys under the age of ten, the turkey was in the oven and he announced that he has to go take pictures of the lake.
Shockingly, his family agreed and they made a turkey sandwich picnic. They witnessed what is now an iconic photo.
“Naturally, I pointed the camera and the rest is history,” Macaluso said.
The famous Fitzgerald’s Seafood restaurant at West End was captured in time, frozen solid.
Photographers don’t always know when they have captured magic and on that day, Macaluso did.
“I knew when the man said it on the radio,” he said. “Sometimes it’s better to be more lucky than good, you know.”
But for Macaluso, that’s not true. He captured other iconic moments, like the time when Café Du Monde workers were reading the newspaper after the Saints first playoff game victory or when he captured the newspaper that read, “Amen!” inside the St. Louis Cathedral after the Saints won the Super Bowl.
“It never dies, you know. You want to go out and document today,” Macaluso said.
That Christmas Day picnic is now a treasured family memory.
“I’d say it was probably the most wonderful Christmas,” Macaluso said. “There are certain things that you’re glad you did and that is one of them.”