Favorite Places
The photographs in Jürgen Chill’s Zellen series present an overhead view of prison cells, neatly organized by the prisoners themselves. In 2007, Jürgen Chill’s Zellen series won him the European Architectural Photography Prize in the “Favorite Places” category.
“A person’s favourite place is a place which can be chosen at will. The person’s freedom is presupposed. Freedom, however, is not granted to all. Those that do not have it must adjust to whatever opportunities exist and strive to create their own place.”
-Jürgen Chill
Inside Brazil’s Prisons
In a photo essay by Michelle Ferng and Danny Thiemann, life in Brazilian prisons is showcased.
Read more about the photographer’s trip and view more photographs here.
Born Behind Bars
In Mexico it is legal for children born to incarcerated mothers to stay inside prison until the age of six. At Santa Martha Acatitla Prison for Women in Mexico City, around 50 children are living among women serving sentences for drug dealing, kidnapping, and murder. Caroline Bennett captures the lives of these women and children on black and white film.
First Prison in the United States
Eastern State Penitentiary is the oldest prison in the United States. In 1776 Walnut Street Jail received its first prisoners and in 1821 the state of Pennsylvania began expanding the jail to become Eastern State Penitentiary. In the 1970 the prison is emptied and designated as a historic building. Today the prison has an extensive art museum and offers tours to the public. Visit the Eastern State website for more information.
Children’s Prison Art Project
The Children’s Prison Art Project is an innovative organization whose mission is to
introduce juvenile offenders in correctional facilities and shelters to an innovative educational theater and visual arts forum where they can express their thoughts and visions in constructive ways.
They currently have an art exhibition at the Greater Houston Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. Visit their website to see some of the art and to learn more about this organization.
Prison Arts Coalition
The Prison Arts Coalition is a network of people creating art related to the criminal justice system. Their website features some of the art coming out of prison and all the news about new art being made. Check it out here.
Corrections + Footnotes
In 2001 artist and activist Ashley Hunt made the documentary film Corrections. She has gone on to make several multi-media projects about prisons including an interactive map of the prison industrial complex. Her projects continue to grow with other media initiatives that explore what prisons mean as institutions in our society.
Check out her project website.
Photography of Female Prisoners in Louisiana
Ava Berkofsky, a talented photographer, spent time in women’s prisons across America taking pictures of female prisoners. Here are some of her compelling images from Louisiana. Visit Ava’s website to see more.
Women in a New Mexican Prison
For more of Ava Berkofsky’s photography of women prisoners visit her website.
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