"Money," Transylvania, Louisiana 1999

Deborah Luster made this tintype "Money" in Transylvania, Louisiana. Wow, the sepia tones give it such an antique feel, don’t they? It's like we're looking at a portrait from another century, but the subject is so contemporary. I wonder what it was like for Luster to work with such an old process in a place like Transylvania. You get the sense it's a real collaboration with the subject. There's this guy, right, with a knit hat, and he's flashing some kind of sign with his hands, but his expression is what gets me – there's a depth to his eyes that tells a whole story. It reminds you of a Holbein portrait, and it’s really cool how Luster brings this timeless quality to her work. It's like she's saying, "Hey, these lives, these stories, they matter, and they deserve to be remembered."