Scene of the murder of Cornelius Watson, age 25, by gunshot,
on June 4th, 1998. Photograph by Deborah Luster.
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"Tooth for an Eye: A Chorography of Violence in Orleans Parish (Twin Palms Publishing, 2011) is a photographic archive documenting contemporary and historical homicide sites in New Orleans, the homicide capital of the United States. The result is an exploration of the dizzyingly empty space at the core of violence. Luster approaches this invisible, excised population obliquely, with haunting, unpopulated photographs that seem to exist outside of time, simultaneously distant and chillingly close." (From Deborah Luster's website.)
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Deborah Luster has been interested photographically in criminals and crime scenes since her mother, Jeanne Tovrea, was murdered by a contract killer in 1988. Because she (Deborah) had seen the killer, for the next seven years, until he was apprehended, she believed he might be after her as well. She was, in her own words, "pretty much a mess."
More here.
And here is the full story of The Murder of Jeanne Tovrea.
Mike
(Thanks to Don Norris)
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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
S. Boonchai: "Thanks for this post. Deborah is a very generous soul and a great presence here in NOLA's art community. Just a FYI, she recently received a Guggenheim and will be the Keynote speaker at this year's PhotoNOLA on December 12th at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Info here."
Mike Chisholm: "A story straight out of Elmore Leonard. Or possibly George V. Higgins. Being a fan of photographer Raymond Meeks, a while ago I bought a copy of his collaboration with Deborah Luster (of whom I had never heard), Crime Victim Chronicle, the first in the "Orchard" series. I've just looked at it again, with fresh eyes. I'd say that whoever maintains that knowing a artist's back-story is irrelevant to an appreciation of their work (as many do) is, um, mistaken."
Thank you for this! Deborah Luster's work is beautiful, haunting and ultimately- inspiring. There's something to be said for such photography that strives beyond the limits of its technology and the scope of its story telling abilities... beyond its inherent capabilities of fixing what is immediately placed before its lens, in one particular place, in one particular time. Not the easiest thing to do successfully, and without gimmickry.
The work of Eva Leitolf also confronts these uniquely temporal transitions in like manner:
http://www.evaleitolf.de/GI001.html
http://www.evaleitolf.de/postcards_en.html
Posted by: Stan B. | Saturday, 12 October 2013 at 02:42 PM
This kind of stuff (crime scene photos) is strangely compelling, but I can't put into words why. The photos of convicts on her website also hold the same kind of attraction for me.
cfw
Posted by: cfw | Saturday, 12 October 2013 at 03:04 PM
I've walked past spots around my town & neighbourhood where people have been murdered, and I have wondered about what might have gone through a victims mind when they knew that they were about to die. Given some of the spots, I could not help thinking that one of those thoughts would have been "Not here"
Taryn Simon's, The Innocents, is another very compelling work related to crime, but focuses on subjects who have been the victims of a miscarriage of justice
http://www.tarynsimon.com/works_innocents.php
Posted by: Sean | Saturday, 12 October 2013 at 08:49 PM
Looking at the photos on her site, I was full of questions. Listening to the NPR radio link answered them. Her life story is as riveting as her images. I applaud her.
You've really been on a roll with the Random Excellence posts lately. More please!
Posted by: Ed Grossman | Sunday, 13 October 2013 at 10:26 AM
If this is a genre of interest Peter Doyle's book and exhibition of prints made from negatives, many of them glass plates, that he recovered from New South Wales Police archives may appeal. All taken by non specialist coppers not pro photographers.
It's available from amazon but this is a preview:
http://www.hht.net.au/whats_on/exhibitions/exhibitions/city_of_shadows
Posted by: Ross | Monday, 14 October 2013 at 02:39 AM