| In Above Baton Rouge, photographer and pilot Fred
C. Frey, Jr., offers a breathtaking bird’s-eye view of
the development of Louisiana’s capital city over time.
Vivid pairs of black-and-white aerial photographs taken from
similar angles and altitudes forty years apart reveal stunning,
sweeping changes that might be taken for granted at eye level,
providing a one-of-a-kind visual chronicle of Baton Rouge then
and now.
In the early 1960s, Frey began taking aerial photographs
of Baton Rouge sites to help evaluate their potential for
possible real estate developments. What started as an innovative
business practice soon developed into an ongoing passion for
viewing and capturing his hometown from above as it experienced
explosive growth over the next forty years. A skilled aviator
and Korean War veteran, Frey would bank his Cessna 150, pop
open the window, and—with both hands on the camera—snap
vivid pictures. He honed his compositions, always searching
for familiar landmarks, major intersections, and distinctive
buildings. Over time, Frey amassed a cache of more than five
thousand negatives.
Frey documents the enormous strides Baton Rouge has taken
since the 1960s: developers clearing vast forests to make
way for massive new subdivisions and shopping districts; a
downtown resurrecting itself in the face of unprecedented
suburban competition; LSU and Southern University extending
their footprints; refineries and chemical plants expanding
Baton Rouge’s industrial corridor; and the interstate
system steadily carving a path through the parish.
In the early 1990s, Frey realized the value of his images,
many of which depicted aspects of Baton Rouge no longer in
existence. He began in earnest to create modern counterparts
to his earliest photographs in order to illustrate how much
had changed. The astounding results show fledgling subdivisions
surrounded by pastures transforming into sprawling communities.
Two-lane country roads ballooned into six- and eight-lane
thoroughfares, straddled by mile after mile of commercial
development.
Frey took every photograph in this book with the same beloved
Hasselblad camera system he bought in 1962. Above Baton
Rouge therefore offers a unique yet consistent perspective
on the metropolitan area’s ever-changing landscape.
Illuminating text by Tom Guarisco points out key landmarks
and features and draws attention to striking differences between
companion photos.
Frey’s masterfully shot aerial photography gives proof
to Baton Rouge’s boundless energy and industry—and
its thirst for new places to live, work, shop, and play.
Fred C. Frey, Jr., was a real estate developer
in the Greater Baton Rouge area for over thirty years. Both
of his children are professional photographers. He lives in
Chamberlin, Louisiana, with Martha, his wife of fifty-eight
years.
An award-winning journalist, Tom Guarisco
is editor of 225 Magazine and lives in Baton Rouge. |
