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Lifelong residents, newcomers, and visitors alike will be enthralled by the images of Baton Rouge they will encounter in this book. David King Gleason, well known for his photographs of the plantation homes of the South as well as for his aerial photographs of cities as diverse as Boston and Miami, here presents 170 vivid full-color photographs of Baton Rouge and its environs, revealing a bustling and vibrant metropolitan area that still recalls its small-town roots.
Gleason's book appropriately begins with downtown Baton Rouge, the heart of the city. Panoramic photographs disclose the city's skyline and its special relationship with the Mississippi River, while more intimate photographs show downtown's historic landmarks. Gleason photographs the Old State Capitol bathed in autumn sunshine and captures the beauty of the building's architecturally detailed spiral staircase and rotunda. He shows the present Capitol framed by the moss-draped branches of centuries-old trees and in other photographs presents the Capitol's lushly planted grounds. Gleason also provides images of such historic downtown structures as the Pentagon Barracks; the antebellum Stewart-Dougherty House; the Bogan Central Fire Station, now home to the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge; the City Club, formerly the old post office; and the Florence Coffeehouse. A few vintage photographs are interspersed among Gleason's own to allow comparisons of present-day downtown Baton Rouge with the city of the past.
Baton Rouge includes as well images of some of the city's oldest residential neighborhoods, such as Beauregard Town and the Garden District, where turn-of-the-century houses—some simple, some grand—stand along tree-lined streets. Gleason gives attention to the city's important institutions, with photographs of churches, schools, research and health-care facilities, and notably, the area's two major seats of higher learning, Louisiana State University and Southern University. On the city's outskirts and in the areas around Baton Rouge, Gleason photographs such historic homes as Asphodel and Nottoway, as well as still-unspoiled natural areas like Spanish Lake, Bluebonnet Swamp, and False River.
Gleason also portrays the people of Baton Rouge, engaged in activities as varied as reenacting the Battle of Jackson Crossroads, participating in the Great River Road Run, reveling at the Spanish Town Mardi Gras parade, soaking up the atmosphere at Tabby's Blues Box, shouting encouragement at athletic events, and sailing on False River.
Only David King Gleason, a Baton Rougean himself, could have captured so completely and so beautifully the essence of this diverse city that sits on the banks of the Mississippi.
David King Gleason has been designated a Master Photographer by the Professional Photographers of America. His previous books include Plantation Homes of Louisiana and the Natchez Area, Over New Orleans, Over Boston, Antebellum Homes of Georgia, Virginia Plantation Homes, and Over Miami.
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