One Big Self: Prisoners of Louisiana

“One Big Self: Prisoners of Louisiana" (http://cds.aas.duke.edu/l_t10/l_t10.html) is the result of a collaboration between photographer Deborah Luster and poet C.D Wright. They produced an exhibit that was originally displayed at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, and which they published as a book.

The exhibit consists of photos that Luster took at three Louisiana prisons, as well as a poem by Wright. The 11 images that are available online are a small sample of the original exhibit. As is explained in the online exhibit, “For exhibition of these images, photographer Deborah Luster commissioned the fabrication of a black, steel-drawered cabinet that holds the 4 X 5 portraits on metal. Personal information on each inmate is engraved on the back of each photo. Viewers remove handfuls of images, shuffle through them, or arrange them on the cabinet top, touching the faces of Louisiana’s ‘invisible’ prison population.” The photographer noted “I wanted the photos to be handled by viewers and to suggest the history of the penal system.”

1. Selection Decisions

Only a small number of the photographs from the original physical exhibit were included in the online exhibition. A representative sample of prisoners does seem to have been included: black and white, male and female, young and older persons are shown.

2. Metadata

There is no metadata available on the individual items in the exhibit. The purpose to the exhibit was well-explained, but the individuals portrayed remain anonymous. Considering that this information was available in the physical exhibition, though, the online version is really just a pale shadow of it.

3. Object Characteristics

Thumbnail images are available, and by clicking on the image, one may see a larger version of that image in a separate window. The viewer may then proceed through the exhibition by clicking on “next” or “previous”. The URL on one of the thumbnails is incorrect; clicking on that image brings up a different image.

4. Intended Audience

The online exhibit was intended as publicity for the Center for Documentary Studies, and is included with online exhibits from other displays that it has presented. The intended audience consists of casual users who are interested in the types of exhibits that the Center has displayed, and is meant to bring patrons to the museum. Clearly, far more thought and care went into the physical exhibition than the online version.