Luster One Big Self

Luster, Deborah (Photographer) & Wright, C. D. (Author). ONE BIG SELF: PRISONERS OF LOUISIANA Limited Edition. Santa Fe, NM: Twin Palms Publishing, 2003.
Hardcover. First Edition. First Printing. 248 pages. As New in As New Dust Jacket. Artist Book. One of the most important literary and photography titles of the year 2003. Limited Edition of 2000 copies. The first and only edition. An austerely elegant production by Jack Woody and Arlyn Eve Nathan: Oversize-volume format. Handsome black silk cloth boards with titles embossed on cover and spine, as issued. Photographs and Essay, "The Reappearance of Those Who Have Gone", by Deborah Luster. Poetry by C. D. Wright. Printed on thick coated stock paper to the highest standards. In matching black DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents one of the most heart-stoppingly beautiful sequences of portraits and accompanying poetic writings on prisoners. They were all taken at penitentiaries in Louisiana, primarily the Maximum Security Prison For Men and the Louisiana Correctional Institute For Women. The title is from a poem by the American film director, Terrence Malick ("Badlands") : "Maybe all men got one big soul where everybody's a part of / all faces of the same man: One big self". Why the duo's interest in prisoners and why should we care? "Artists, I believe, are often drawn by spirits into strange places. I found myself walking through prison gates. I felt the leaden hours of the forsaken and forgotten. I felt the certain slowing of time and thickening of space. I have come to understand that while it was the fear and anger generated by my mother's murder that in great measure ignited this work, it is the loss and hope I feel that has fueled it" (Deborah Luster). Her mother's murder, which would have understandably brought out the worst in her (or any other human being) has, in Deborah Luster's case, brought out the best. She is not a bleeding liberal who speaks from the outside, but a victim who should be screaming for revenge. Instead, Luster offers forgiveness in the sense that the only thing worth forgiving is the unforgivable. The prevalent notion of prison life is characterized by the sensationalistic HBO series, "Oz", as a place of brutal treachery, unspeakable violence, and ruthless power play. If some people are outraged by the graphic violence of "Oz", they might be even more outraged by the attempt of Luster and Wright to accord dignity to these prisoners. Deborah Luster bathes her portraits with a soft, golden glow, suggesting that these are spiritual presences. Their work is unapologetically sympathetic, and is descended from Danny Lyon's "Conversations With The Dead", one of the greatest photography books of the 20th century, as well as such literary classics as Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood", all of Jean Genet's works, Sister Prejean's "Dead Man Walking", Stephen King's "The Shawshank Redemption", and Michel Foucault's "Discipline and Punish". This great list has one simple message: Whether it realizes the fact or not, the way a society treats its prisoners is a reflection of that society as a whole, at its best or at its worst. <b><i> This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black fountain pen beside their names on the title page by Deborah Luster and C. D. Wright. This is the only signed copy available online and has no flaws, a pristine beauty. A rare signed copy thus. </b></i> 180 plates. Two of the finest living American artists. A flawless collectible copy. . ISBN 1931885257. Signed by Author.

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Roma, Thomas (Photographer); Mailer, Norman & Coles, Robert (Contributors). ENDURING JUSTICE: PHOTOGRAPHS BY THOMAS ROMA Limited Edition With Signed Original Silver-Gelatin Print. New York City, NY: PowerHouse Books, 2001.
Hardcover. First Edition. First Printing. 180 pages. As New in As New Dust Jacket. Landmark collection of photographs. One of the greatest photography books of the new century. Limited Edition of 80 numbered and signed copies. A handsome production by Thomas Roma and Marvin Hoshino: Oversize-volume format. Deep blue silk cloth boards with titles embossed on cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by Thomas Roma. Foreword by the great American novelist Norman Mailer, who has famously fought for prisoners' rights throughout his activist life. Introduction by Robert Coles, one of the finest living child psychiatrists, the first psychiatrist to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor the United States Government bestows on individuals for their outstanding achievement. 8 X 10 inch original silver-gelatin print encased in its own glassine sleeve and laid into the book. Matching slipcase with metallic-silver titles on one side. Printed on thick coated stock paper by EBS in Verona, Italy to the very highest standards. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents the American photographer's finest collection, austere and unforgettable photographs of mostly very young men and women accused of committing crimes and awaiting trial. Some of them are shown with their loved ones and family members. All of the accused were awaiting trial at the Brooklyn Criminal Court, where Thomas Roma patiently waited for fourteen months, between December 1997 and February 1999, to take his pictures. Although some of the subjects were aware that they were being photographed, most are snapshots, and those that are portraits were not staged. Most of the subjects are not looking directly at the camera, are looking away or their heads are bowed, none of which is surprising because, whether one is guilty or not, to be accused is to be shamed. The individual "loses face", and these quietly beautiful photographs show us exactly what a person who has lost face looks like. The collection is reminiscent of (and clearly influenced by) Walker Evans' seminal classic, "Many Are Called", rather than say, Danny Lyon's "Conversations With The Dead" or the more recent "One Big Self" by Deborah Luster. The last two books captured prison life, one pessimistic and dark, the other hopeful and compassionate. Roma's project is much more ambiguous. None of his subjects has been convicted of any crime yet. It is therefore deeply disturbing that one feels they have already internalized their shame, and have to endure what is unmistakably the inhumanity and "facelessness" of the justice system. No one condones crime, but at least on paper, no one should condone injustice, either. A photographer of some of the most stunning landscape and portrait work of his generation ("Sunset Park" and "Higher Ground"), this collection, in its unsentimental simplicity, piercing gaze, and genuine humane-ness, is Thomas Roma's single finest body of work. "In the halls of justice, the only justice is in the halls" (Lenny Bruce). A "must-have" title for Thomas Roma collectors. <b><i> This copy is one of a Limited Edition, indicated as such on the original 8 X 10 silver-gelatin print that is prominently and beautifully numbered, dated, and signed in pencil on verso by the photogrpaher: "Thomas Roma (Limitation Number) 1998". This is the only copy of the Limited Edition available online and has no flaws, a pristine beauty. A rare signed copy thus. </b></i> 82 plates, I original print. One of the finest living American photographers. A flawless collectible copy. . ISBN 1576871029. Signed..

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