The University of New Orleans Press has published Neutral Ground: New Orleans 1990–2005, a photography monograph by artist William Greiner. The book presents a visual record of New Orleans in the years prior to Hurricane Katrina, focusing on the city’s built environment, public spaces and everyday scenes.
Greiner, a New Orleans native now based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, documents his hometown through images taken over a 15-year span. His photographs portray the streets, structures and atmosphere of the city—offering insight into the visual landscape of a community shaped by geography and storms. The collection reflects Greiner’s long-standing engagement with place, memory and change.
The title Neutral Ground refers to the raised medians found throughout New Orleans, historically used as both physical dividers and gathering places. In the book’s foreword, author John Ramsey Miller describes the phrase as a metaphor for Greiner’s position as an observer—recording the city from a perspective of distance and creative focus.
Greiner earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, and an MBA from Suffolk University. His work is included in more than 60 public art collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He received a Louisiana Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 2004 and has expanded his artistic practice in recent years to include painting, sculpture and mixed media.
Neutral Ground is Greiner’s third monograph and is available through É«É«Ñо¿Ëù Press and select booksellers.
For more information, visit the University of New Orleans Press.
