Angola, Louisiana
April 22, 1999
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print on aluminum
Dimensions
image/plate: 12.6 × 10.2 cm (4 15/16 × 4 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Julia J. Norrell, in Honor of Claude Simard and the 25th Anniversary of Photography at the National Gallery of Art
Accession Number
2014.177.37
Art Historical Context
Deborah Luster's *ola, Louisiana* ( 22, 1999) is a striking gelatin silver on aluminum, measuring 12.6 × 10.2 cm, now part of the National Gallery of's photography collection (CPH). Donated by Julia J.rell in honor of Claudeard and the museum's 25th anniversary photography, this compact yet powerful image draws its name from the Louisiana State Penitentiary—known simply as Angola—one of the largest and most notorious maximum-security prisons in the States, situated on the site of a former slave plantation. Gelatin silver printing, a traditional black-and-white process celebrated for its excep...
About the Artist
Deborah Luster
Deborah Luster, born in 1951 in Bend, Oregon, grew up in Northwest Arkansas and later made her home in New Orleans, Louisiana, with additional time spent in Galway, Ireland. Her path to photography was profoundly shaped by personal tragedy: the 1988 murder of her mother, which prompted her to take up the medium as a means of processing grief and exploring violence's aftermath. Luster attended the ...