doc # 391605
dob. 1.31.74
pob. New Orleans
sentence. 5 years
3 children
work. Field
LCIW 6.25.99

Description

Deborah Luster presents a selection of photographs from her acclaimed series One Big Self, chronicling the often forgotten prisoners of Northeast Louisiana between 1998-2002. Small enough to be held in one’s palm, the original black aluminum tintype prints created a sense of intimacy, yet their scale also allowed them to be stacked and filed away by number, reminiscent of the discarding of identity within the prison system. Many prisoners used the prints of their portraits as evidence of life, a reminder and an invitation to the outside world to acknowledge them and to recognize them as they would like to be seen. Blurring the boundaries of death and time, the photographs capture a frozen moment of individuality for people that have been tucked away within an unforgiving and exploitative system.