When we started the Cassilhaus Artist Residency, we just assumed that as avid photography collectors we would host a bunch of photographers in our residency. To be sure we have had wonderful artists here who work with photography but I doubt any one of them would label themselves a pure photographer. Who knew it would take us more than 3 years. Deborah Luster, our most recent resident, wears that moniker proudly. Her path to photography was tragically unique. She took up the camera as a way to rememerge into the world and find her voice after the murder of her mother by a hired hit man in 1988. The incident forever colors her work and gives it potent emotional content. Deborah has been a friend since our days of hanging out at a biennial artist confab in Black Mountain, NC. We were thrilled that we could talk her into joining us here. She came to international attention with her amazing prison photography project and book called One Big Self. The book grew out of a collaboration with poet C.D. Wright that won the CDS Dorothea Lange/Paul Taylor prize.
She was initially supposed to be with us for the month of May but got a call about a once in a lifetime project--photographing death row inmates from Angola Prison performing The Life of Jesus Christ. All of Deborah's contacts and early projects in the prison gave her unprecedented access and NPR did a lengthy piece you can check out here and a slide show here. Make sure you listen to the individual audio vingettes with each photo. Female inmates from a sister prison performed as well in a first ever co-ed production of The Passion Play in a Louisiana prison. The stories and images of this project are just astounding.
We had a fantastic time catching up in the first half of June. Deborah has a ton of friends in the area so there was always lots going on. Below she makes herself immediately at home in the Spoon tub!
She gave a wonderful artist talk to an SRO crowd. I've never seen so many photograhers at an event here. We got the very first look at her new Angola work.
Thank you Deborah for everything.
"It is really easy to hide behind a camera." -Deborah Luster
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