St. Gabriel, Louisiana 30 - 1999

Deborah Luster made this small, evocative photograph, 'St. Gabriel, Louisiana', using the 19th-century technique of tintype. The warm, sepia tones immediately give it a ghostly, historical feel. I wonder what Luster was thinking as she coated the plate with chemicals, waiting for the image to emerge? It’s like she was reaching back in time, connecting to those early days of photography when image-making felt like alchemy. The woman's steady gaze and the way the light catches her features feel so intimate, like a whispered secret. Think about the portraits by Julia Margaret Cameron, those hazy, soulful images of Victorian figures—both artists share an interest in how photography can capture something beyond the surface. It makes you wonder about all the stories this woman holds, all the things that can’t be captured in a single image.