George Georgetown, Transylvania, Louisiana 3 - 2000

Deborah Luster created ‘George Georgetown, Transylvania, Louisiana’, with a photographic technique called tintype, resulting in an image both haunting and immediate. The deep blacks and faded gold tones give it a ghostly feel, like a memory struggling to surface. I imagine Luster in her darkroom, coaxing this image into being, waiting for George to materialize out of the chemicals. What was he thinking as he sat for this portrait? Was he aware of how his presence would be transformed by the archaic process? The yellowish tone against the stark background gives the image a texture almost like it's been painted. There's an intimacy in the way Luster captures George, a vulnerability that transcends the surface. It reminds me of other portraitists like Alice Neel, who sought to reveal something essential about their subjects. This feels like a conversation across time, artists using their tools to connect, to see, and to share what they find.