St. Gabriel, Louisiana 15 - 2000

Editor: So this gelatin silver print, "St. Gabriel, Louisiana" by Deborah Luster, from 1995 to 2000…it strikes me as so formal, almost regal, yet intimate. What draws your eye when you look at this piece? Curator: The hands. The open gesture, almost an offering, a welcoming. It reminds me of the pose of a saint in a Byzantine icon, where the hand is displayed in blessing or invitation. Here, it invites not reverence, but perhaps empathy, understanding. Do you notice how that cross hangs right at the center? Editor: Yes, and I think that sense of empathy you mention is really interesting. There's also a real strength in her gaze. I'm wondering if the name "St. Gabriel" is more about her connection to that place rather than directly to the biblical figure? Curator: Precisely. Consider the deeper layers. Gabriel is the messenger, and perhaps she is a messenger of this specific Louisiana. What stories might she tell? Consider how photography allows us to revisit moments, invoking both cultural and personal memory. How the photographer chooses to frame them changes that relationship. Editor: That makes me rethink the title entirely! Now I see the photograph as a sort of… visual storytelling. A preservation of a specific cultural moment, tied to this woman's identity and experiences. Curator: Absolutely. Photography’s indexicality -- the fact that the image was created by the effect of light reflected on an actual object, a real person -- means this image holds more significance. Is it just a portrait or something bigger than that? Editor: I didn’t expect to think so much about storytelling within one portrait, but I feel like I see a much richer context now. Curator: The beauty of art! Always challenging us to reconsider.