Samuel Lane Jr., "Pimp," Transylvania, Louisiana 15 - 2000

Deborah Luster captured "Samuel Lane Jr., 'Pimp,' Transylvania, Louisiana," using the 19th-century technique of tintype photography. Luster's choice of this antiquated method is deliberate, linking her subjects to the historical narratives of identity and representation. Looking at the subject's gaze, what do you feel? How much of his life story is etched on his face? The starkness of the tintype aesthetic encourages us to reflect on the complex intersections of race, class, and masculinity. Luster has said about her work that she strives to make visible those who are often unseen or overlooked. The confrontational gaze and declarative tattoo challenge stereotypical representations. The image invites us to confront both the history of marginalization and the individual's self-fashioning in the face of it.