Date of Award
5-2025
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.F.A.
Degree Program
Fine Arts
Department
Fine Arts
Major Professor
Martin, Ariya
Second Advisor
Campbell, Anthony
Third Advisor
Rule, Dan
Abstract
This thesis explores the French Quarter courtyard as a site of queer sanctuary, memory, and community through a lens-based artistic practice. Drawing on historical and contemporary photographs, installations, and collaborations with friends and community members, the work examines how gardens and courtyards have long functioned as both physical and metaphysical spaces of refuge for the queer community in New Orleans. The project is grounded in both archival recovery and contemporary practice, combining the still image with sculptural installations that reframe the visual vernacular of gay clubs within these historic spaces. By slowing down the photographic process and attuning to both the private and public histories within each courtyard, I seek to honor the complexity of these spaces as sites of sanctuary. Ultimately, this work contributes to a living queer archive—one rooted in place, guided by care, and shaped by the ongoing relationship between image-making, memory, and community.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Rosebush, Tyler, "The Camera’s Sanctuary: Photographing the Queer Gardens of the Vieux Carré" (2025). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 3255.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/3255
Included in
Art Practice Commons, Digital Humanities Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Photography Commons
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.