I am not a photographer.
I look and comment.
I work as an independent writer, curator and educator.
WHERE
San Francisco Bay Area, California. Born and raised in Lancashire, England.
WHY PRISONS?
I believe the United States needs to pursue large-scale prison and sentencing reform.
We must stop warehousing people and be creative with rehabilitation. Prisons in the U.S. are socially and economically unsustainable. As they exist, prisons are a liability. Often discussions on prison issues are framed incorrectly. Sometimes prisons are ignored. Problems also exist in other countries.
WHY PHOTOGRAPHY?
Cameras and their operators function in recording, and to some degree, interpreting the stories of (and within) prison systems. How varied is the imagery?
If a camera is within prison walls we should always be asking; How did it get there? What are/were the motives? What are the responses? What social and political powers are at play in photographs manufacture? How is knowledge, related to those powers, constructed? Is the photograph for the prisoner, for the photographer, for the audience, or a combination?