Joshua Kissi documents African American high school marching bands in New Orleans’ Mardi Gras parade
The Bronx-based photographer captures the musicality of the marching bands while honouring the political importance of the groups, dating back to the American Civil War.
It’s an earnest message exemplified in Joshua’s latest series Banded. Here, he documents Mardi Gras marching bands in the famous New Orleans parade. Hundreds of high school marching bands travel from all over the country to play in the parade, demonstrating their collective and individual personalities through their performances. Of the series, Joshua explains, “After experiencing Mardi Gras for the first time, one thing that stuck out to me in particular, was the beautiful sound of the marching bands.” He recalls the impressively pristine uniforms, the shiny brass instruments polished and shined for the procession, and the distinctiveness of each illustrious head piece. — It’s Nice That
