St. Gabriel, Louisiana 27 - 2000

Deborah Luster made this haunting portrait, titled "St. Gabriel, Louisiana," using a process called tintype. This photographic technique, popular in the 19th century, involves creating a direct positive on a thin sheet of metal, in this case, iron. The result is a unique, one-of-a-kind image. Tintypes were inexpensive and immediate, making photography accessible to a wider segment of society. Luster revives this historical process, creating a connection to photography's past and to the people and places she documents. The ghostly, ethereal quality of the image is enhanced by the tintype's inherent characteristics: the subtle imperfections, the delicate tonal range, and the slightly unpredictable nature of the chemical process. By choosing this method, Luster imbues the photograph with a sense of history, memory, and the passage of time, elevating the status of the anonymous subject. It reminds us that photographic processes are never neutral. They inevitably shape what we see.