Through Her Lens

by Maggie Bokobza

Artist Cheryl Gerber

BORN IN NEW ORLEANS, Cheryl Gerber’s family moved to the northshore when she was 11 years old. She cheered on the Lions at Covington High and eventually attended Southeastern, where she specialized in journalism. Soon, she landed her first job as a reporter for the St. Tammany News Banner, but quickly learned that maybe writing wasn’t her strong suit. “I was a lousy writer,” Gerber jokes about her early days as a journalist. “Each week, my editor covered my stories in red ink. It was so discouraging.”

But the trajectory of her career changes when she was gifted a camera for her 20th birthday. As the paper had only one staff photographer, it was rarely able to take accompanying photographs for Gerber’s stories. Once she had the means to take her own photography, she realized that this is where her true talents were able to shine.

The Merry Antoinettes.

About that lightbulb moment, Gerber explains, “I started taking the photos to go with my stories, and I noticed the photos got biggerand the stories got shorter, hence less red ink. I knew that I was on to something!”

It was at this time in the late ’80s, while Gerber was working for the Banner, that she was actually highlighted in Inside Northside as part of a story on successful working women of the northshore.

Saints and Pelicans owner, Gayle Benson.

Once Gerber finished college, she moved back to New Orleans to work as a copyeditor for New Orleans Magazine. She has since spent the last 30 years working for several publications and created two books of her photography, both of which highlight the unique and flourishing culture of New Orleans.

Reflecting on her passion for the city and its people, Gerber says, “When I was a kid, I dreamed of moving to New York City. But as I began rediscovering my native city as an adult, especially though the [camera] lens, I knew that New Orleans was the best city in the country to be a storyteller. The culture is the richest in the world.

Chef Leah Chase.

“After photographing the city for more than 30 years, I continue to be awed and inspired by the many creative and traditional ways that New Orleanians celebrate life and death.”

When describing her technique, Gerber says her style is very simple. “I want to portray people as I see them, without filters. In the Instagram age, photos have become so over-processed. I just want to portray people as I see them at the moment I click the shutter.”

Northshore native Amanda Shaw.

She means this not just in a literal sense, but in a metaphorical way as well. She also is constantly working to fight against her own prejudices and fears about people so as to remove those biases from her work. “Photography has not only opened my eyes, but my heart too, to the depths of people that you can’t usually see on the surface. I often train my lens on people that most of us don’t ‘see,’ or are afraid to see. It only makes me see and love people more,” she says of the impact her subjects have had on shaping her as an individual.

The Muff-a- Lottas Dance Troupe.

This approach also influenced her decision to create her latest book, Cherchez La Femme: New Orleans Women. She was inspired to create the book after covering the 2017 Women’s March in New Orleans, at which 5,000 women from across the city, along with their kids and partners, took to the streets in solidarity with millions across the globe in support of women’s rights. “I’d covered a lot of protests in my career, but that was by far the biggest and most inspirational. I was so moved by the special flair and passion that they brought to the march that I realized women needed to be represented in a book,” she says.

The book, which includes over 200 images of women from all across New Orleans, is divided into 12 chapters and each celebrates different women bringing their own contribution to the city of New Orleans, from entertainers and socialites to activists, musicians, chefs, entrepreneurs, spiritual leaders and burlesque artists.

Lauren Haydel of Fleurty Girl.

One of Gerber’s favorite chapters celebrates the accomplishments of local female entrepreneurs. Built around writer Kathy Finn’s essay, “Careers Built on Dreams: Entrepreneurs, businesswomen follow uniquely New Orleans paths,” the chapter highlights an array of women from wellknown jewelry designer Mignon Faget to Sallie Ann Glassman, a voodoo priestess who manages a successful business and retail shop. In the pages, you will see stories like that of Lauren Haydel, owner of retail shop Fleurty Girl, highlighted next to that of Trixie Minx, the stage name of Alexa Graber, who has become a cultural icon in the New Orleans burlesque scene, alongside the journey of Gale Benson, the only female owner of an NFL and NBA team.

Abenaa Rukiya Montsh of the Creole Wild West.

Each of these women brings a different perspective to the discussion of women in business, and all of them contribute to what makes New Orleans special. “I love how women from this area can turn their passions into careers and businesses, whether you are a voodoo priestess, t-shirt maker, a jewelry maker or sports franchise owner,” Gerber says of the chapter.

Jeweler Mignon Faget.

When reflecting on the experience of creating the book, she notes that the most gratifying aspect of the process has been getting to know some of the women she had previously photographed but never met. One such woman, a member of the Nyxettes Mardi Gras dance team, Gerber met when she brought her a copy of the book ahead of the launch. “She was wearing her pink Nyxettes outfit under her business clothes because she was going to the event right after work,” says Gerber. “I told her that I had chosen her particular photo because she exuded so much joy. She teared up and told me how she was going through some hard times, that she was a single mother of a six-year-old, was the primary caregiver for her disabled mother and worked full time. Once a year, getting to dance in the streets with her ‘Nyxette sisters,’ she forgets all of her problems for just a few hours. It’s when she is the most joyful.”

Another inspiring story in the book is that of Loretta Johnson, creator of Loretta’s Pralines, the first African American women to open a brick and mortar praline shop in New Orleans. When Gerber delivered her book, Loretta teared up, explaining that it meant so much for her to be immortalized in a book alongside her hero, Chef Leah Chase.

Loretta Johnson of Loretta’s Pralines.

“That’s when I realized how important it was for women, who have been historically underrepresented in our male-dominated society, to be recognized for their contributions to our cultural landscape,” Gerber says of the moment. “Last month, Miss Loretta passed away. I can’t help but think that she and Chef Leah Chase, who also passed away during the production of the book, are up in heaven cooking up gumbo and pralines!”

When initially laying out the book, Gerber expected to feature 50 women and their stories. But as the pages came together, so many different categories of women emerged that she knew she could not do them all justice on her own. So she enlisted the expertise of some of her favorite local female writers to contribute to each chapter. “I think their essays make the book so much more important than just a photography coffee table book,” Gerber says of their contributions. “It really tells the story of who we are as women at this moment in time and where we are going. I learned so much about New Orleans women from the essays.”

Cherchez la Femme: New Orleans Women

New Orleans native Cheryl Gerber captures the vibrancy and diversity of New Orleans women in Cherchez la Femme: New Orleans Women. Inspired by the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, DC, Gerber’s book includes over two hundred photographs of the city’s most well known women and the everyday women who make New Orleans so rich and diverse. Drawing from her own archives as well as new works,Gerber’s selection of photographs in Cherchez la Femme highlights the contributions of women tothe city, making it one of the only photographic histories of modern New Orleans women.

Alongside Gerber’s photographs are twelve essays written by female writers about such women as Leah Chase, Irma Thomas,Mignon Faget and Trixie Minx. Also featured are prominent groups of women that have made their mark on the city, like the Mardi Gras Indians, Baby Dolls and the Krewe of Muses, among others. The book is divided into eleven chapters, each celebrating the women who add to New Orleans’s uniqueness, including entertainers, socialites, activists, musicians,chefs, entrepreneurs, spiritual leaders and burlesque artists.