Angola, Louisiana 19 - 1999

Deborah Luster made this small tintype, Angola, Louisiana, sometime in the recent past using a 19th-century photographic process. The muted, almost sepia tones and the formality of the pose make the sitter seem both contemporary and like a figure from the past. What gets me about this image is the way the light catches the figure's watch, the glint in his eye, and the texture of his boot. The light here isn’t just illumination; it feels like a way of marking time, of acknowledging the weight of history and its impact on the present. See how the dark background makes the figure stand out. It's a formal decision, of course, but it also reads to me like a statement about visibility and presence. Luster's work shares some sensibilities with that of Diane Arbus, another photographer known for documenting people on the margins of society. But where Arbus often seemed to emphasize the otherness of her subjects, Luster brings a sense of empathy and respect. Both artists remind us that art is always a conversation, a way of seeing and being seen.