Having taken up residence in Hawaii, California and Chicago, photographer Akasha Rabut found true love at last in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she decided to stay. Falling head over heels for the culture and the city, she has devoted years to shooting portraits of its citizens and day-to-day goings-on. Living on the Second Line parade route, Akasha took great pleasure in watching the splendour of the carnival flourishing every Sunday, where she met the Caramel Curves, the first all-female black motorcycle club and the Souther Riderz, a group of urban cowboys. In Extra Extra nº16, catch sight of the parade’s regalia in full swing: fishnet stockings, spurred boots, rhine-studded bodysuits, plumes of rosy smoke and the twirling flags of the Flaming Flagettes dance troop.