Katrina kids see New Orleans through new lens

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor (New Orleans): Here in New Orleans tonight, one of the most comprehensive exhibits of the photos taken during the Katrina disaster is now on display. A lot of them are those searing images that it's just impossible to forget. But instead of just displaying them on the wall, the people who took the photos are using them instead to teach some lessons. By doing so, they're making a difference in the process. From here in New Orleans , here is NBC 's Kate Snow .

KATE SNOW reporting: Twelve-year-old Kim Kaiser got his first camera a couple of years ago. And outside Cafe du Monde , he found just the type of scene he likes to shoot.

Mr. KIM KAISER: It just feels good. I love jazz.

SNOW: Kim is in search of the good in this city after living through so much bad. He lost his grandpa in the aftermath of Katrina . What do you miss the most about him?

Mr. KAISER: I miss the way that I used to run up to him, kneel on his knees and give him a hug.

Mr. JOHNNY HANSON: All these pictures that you see here are well thought out, well composed...

SNOW: Johnny Hanson organized a workshop for young people to coincide with the new display of Katrina photos at New Orleans ' Ogden Museum . After a private viewing, the kids would have their turn.

Unidentified Man #1: We want you guys to go out today against the backdrop of where we were five years ago and tell us where we are now.

Unidentified Woman #1: You framed it, and...

SNOW: Photojournalists coached the kids on how to capture just the right frame.

Woman #1: So what's your impression of this?

Unidentified Woman #2: Lonely.

Unidentified Man #2: This is cool. Let's hang for a while.

SNOW: Twenty-year-old Caitlin Sullivan lost two friends to suicide after Katrina , but now she sees beauty in the distinctly New Orleans tradition of a musical funeral procession. Their photos telling a new story about their city.

Ms. CAITLIN SULLIVAN: It is about the people and the culture and not the physical.

Mr. KAISER: Just because Hurricane Katrina came, I took those pictures to remind them that New Orleans is still the same.

SNOW: Five years later, images that are refreshingly ordinary, filled with life and hope. Kate Snow ,