St. Gabriel, Louisiana 27 - 2000

Deborah Luster made this tintype, St. Gabriel, Louisiana, with what looks like a super simple setup, maybe even a homemade camera. The darks are so dark, and the lights have this fragile glow, almost like an x-ray, or a memory trying to surface. Look at the way the surface itself has these imperfections, like tiny scratches and spots. They're not flaws, but part of the piece; evidence of the artist's hand and the alchemical process of early photography. I keep coming back to the woman's face. There is a directness and strength in her gaze that really strikes me. The skeleton on her shirt is a kind of costume, of course, but more than that, it's a memento mori, a reminder of our shared mortality. Luster’s work shares something with Diane Arbus, in that it stares frankly at its subjects. But Luster is even more intimate, personal. The image feels more like an embrace than an observation.