While traveling through the beautiful areas of Manhattan to the common event, "Meet the Artist," at Macaulay Honors College, I didn't think the art would be about a tragedy that had happened in New Orleans. It shocked me in the beginning because I couldn't think of any art in such a tragic place. However, the photographer/artist, Thomas Neff, proved me wrong. He enjoyed speaking with the people in New Orleans, while helping them out of the their overflowed homes. He took pictures of reality that had happened there. Although the scenery was depressing to me, it showed a sense of realism and how life can be ruined in a matter of hours. It showed how destructive mother nature can be and how humans can be so giving and helpful and vice versa. He told us he loved photographing texts. The pictures of a huge "H E L P" and "MY MOTHER HAS BAD LEG" spray painted on the floor are examples. It gave me a sense of how much aid the New Orleans people really needed. The photo of a man in his white boxer briefs on his balcony of his half-sunken home by the water was the most appealing and heart-breaking piece of art work to me in Mr. Neff's album. Throughout his presentation, he gave us a sense of distress for the people that were abandoned for a period of time and comfort in that people are being helped at the same time. He explained that many people refused to leave their homes because they were too attached to them. I thought to myself, if i had lived in a home for my whole life, I, too, might have refused to abandon my home "sweet" home. Ultimately, he got his message across in his type of art: photography.