St. Gabriel, Louisiana 27 - 2000

"St. Gabriel, Louisiana" (2000) is a photograph by Deborah Luster, a renowned American photographer. The image depicts a young African American girl wearing a white gown and a mask, her gaze directed at the viewer. Luster's work often explores themes of race, identity, and the South. This particular photograph is part of her larger series "A Southern Family," which documents the lives of a black family in Louisiana. The use of the mask, which appears to be a traditional blackface minstrel mask, adds a layer of complexity to the image, referencing a long and painful history of racism and performance in the American South.