Tracey Horne, "Pick", Angola, Louisiana
June 11, 1999
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print on aluminum
Dimensions
image/plate: 12.7 × 10.1 cm (5 × 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
2014.177.8
Art Historical Context
Deborah Luster's *Tracey Horne, "Pick", Angola, Louisiana* (1999) is a poignant gelatin silver print mounted on aluminum, measuring a intimate 5 × 4 inches. Captured at the Louisiana State Penitentiary—commonly known as Angola, a sprawling former plantation turned maximum-security prison—this photograph exemplifies Luster's documentary style. The title identifies its subject, inmate Tracey Horne, nicknamed "Pick," inviting viewers into the stark realities of incarceration through a direct, unflinching portrait. Gelatin silver printing, a classic black-and-white process prized for its rich ton...
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 ...