Deborah Carter, St. Gabriel, Louisiana 25 - 1999

Deborah Luster made this photograph of Deborah Carter in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, using the tintype process. The image has a directness, like a painting made alla prima, wet-on-wet, where the artist commits to every stroke. I wonder what it was like for Deborah Carter to sit for this portrait. Was it a quiet moment of reflection, a brief pause in the day? I love how Luster has captured a sense of intimacy and vulnerability. The cool tones and soft lighting create a mood that is both contemplative and tender. The sepia tones remind me of early photography experiments, the kind you see from the 1860s and 70s. Painters like Alice Neel come to mind. Like Neel, Luster captures something essential about the human condition. Artists are always in conversation, building on what came before. Whether it’s paint or light-sensitive emulsion, it is all about an embodied expression. And isn’t that what art is all about? It's never really fixed. It’s always in flux.