"$," Transylvania, Louisiana 1999

Deborah Luster made this tintype, “$,” in Transylvania, Louisiana, and there’s no date. The colours of the image are like faded gold; it feels old but also immediate. Looking at the surface, you can see the imperfections and marks, almost like they are part of the person. They remind me of a daguerrotype. A line runs down the face from the mouth, but is it a crack in the plate or part of the image? Maybe it's both. The expression on the man’s face is hard to read; the tattoos are upfront and centre. It feels like this piece is about history, memory and how we mark our own bodies. Luster has spent a lot of time photographing on the margins, and like Diane Arbus, she shows us what is often hidden. I like the way it opens up more questions than it answers.