Angola, Louisiana 11 - 1999

Deborah Luster made this tintype photograph, Angola, Louisiana, and like painting, tintype is a process, not just a result. The surface of the tintype has this cool, almost ghostly, yellow-ish tone. It’s smooth, but with these tiny imperfections, like it's aged even though it's not that old. The shadows are super dark, which makes the figure pop. I keep coming back to the man's eyes—they look straight at you. It's like he's thinking about something deep, and the rest of the photo just fades away. Luster is known for portraiture, and I'm reminded of Rineke Dijkstra's work, capturing people in specific places or times. Both are interested in how you can use the portrait to capture something honest and complicated about being human. This piece reminds me that art is about looking closely, thinking hard, and feeling deeply.