St. Gabriel, Louisiana 1998 - 2002

Deborah Luster made this small tintype, "St. Gabriel, Louisiana", using a photographic process from the 19th century. Look at the way she holds the ceramic head, almost like a precious object. It makes me think about vulnerability and the power of holding. The sepia tones and soft focus give the image a dreamlike quality, as though it has emerged from memory. It makes me wonder what Luster was thinking when she made it. Perhaps she was thinking about the history of photography, and its relationship to portraiture. Luster has spent her career photographing people who exist on the margins of society. The way she gives such intimate attention reminds me of Diane Arbus, and how she elevated the overlooked. There's something profoundly human in that act of bearing witness. Ultimately, I think Luster is asking us to consider our own relationship to the people and places we encounter, and the stories we tell ourselves about them.