Eddie M. "Fat" Coco Jr., Transylvania, Louisiana 1 - 2000

Deborah Luster made this small portrait, Eddie M. "Fat" Coco Jr., Transylvania, Louisiana, with a wet plate collodion process. There's something about the alchemy of old photographic processes, the way they render skin and light, that just gets me. Look at the subtle glow around Eddie’s face, the almost sepia tones, a mix of gold and brown. It feels like a painting, doesn’t it? Like a Rembrandt or something! I love the way the light catches on the surface, the marks and imperfections that tell a story of a hand-made object. The scratches create a strange tension between the subject and the object, where the surface feels both near and far away. It reminds me that art isn't just about what's depicted, but about the process and the physicality of making. You feel it, like a kind of presence. Luster, like Carrie Mae Weems, continues the photographic tradition of artists using portraiture to document and elevate marginalized communities.