Behold the mystique of the New Orleans night that tinge of excitement, that veil of mystery, that sense of danger that emerges during ""the witching hour.""

Darkness may unleash the Dionysian in the Crescent City, but the nightly sparkle of illumination also showcases its ethereal and enduring beauty. Through hundreds of nighttime photographs taken in the streets and from the air, Nocturnal New Orleans captures this mythological magic even as it argues that the mystique is neither mythical nor magical, but stems from a rational awareness rooted in history, geography, economics, and culture.

With photographs by Marco Rasi and text by Richard Campanella, Nocturnal New Orleans heralds the jewel-like beauty of the Crescent City in darkness. Its stunning photographs demonstrate that the city's allure is not merely construed or illusory; rather, it was born among transients in a diverse port city, at the nexus of a vast hinterland and a global foreland, where anonymity intersected with desire and opportunity. It began over three centuries ago, and it will continue this very evening, after nightfall, during the witching hour.

Marco Rasi earned a PhD in civil engineering from the California Institute of Technology. He is a certified commercial drone pilot and expert in drone-mounted cameras. His photography has also appeared in Above New Orleans (2021). He lives in New Orleans with his wife Jane, and has three grown-up children.

Richard Campanella, a geographer and associate dean for research at the Tulane University School of Architecture, is the author of fourteen books, including Draining New Orleans and Bourbon Street: A History, as well as hundreds of articles on Louisiana history, geography, architecture, and culture. In 2016 the French government named Campanella Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Acadamiques, and in 2019 he received the Louisiana Writer Award from the Louisiana Center for the Book. He lives in New Orleans with his wife Marina and son Jason.