After John Tibule Mendes died in 1965, it was discovered that this lonely and socially awkward man had spent most of his free time documenting unusual scenes of early 20th century New Orleans. The glass-plate negatives he left behind are published here for the first time. Excerpts from his autobiography, Dogs in My Life, add Mendesi sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious, voice to the remarkable images of historic buildings, demolitions, transvestites...