Boxer, Angola, Louisiana 22 - 1999

Deborah Luster’s tintype photograph presents a boxer, somewhere in Angola, Louisiana. This portrait, with its warm, antique tone, reminds me of early photography’s deliberate process. I wonder about the quietness in the studio, the subject’s stillness, and the artist carefully preparing her materials. The directness of the gaze—it feels very present, very raw. I can only imagine what it must have been like to make an image using this laborious method. A champion belt. Those folded arms are bursting, the steely look of the eyes. I feel like Luster wanted to make this boxer a classical hero. It reminds me of the work of Dawoud Bey and the ways in which he has also tried to reclaim portraiture. I am interested in artists that continue to mine the history of image making, as it builds upon dialogues of the past and present. We’re always in conversation, wrestling with ideas of representation, power, and the human condition.