Curated by "Prison Photography" editor Pete Brook for Haverford College’s Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery, "Prison Obscura" presents rarely seen vernacular, surveillance, evidentiary, and prisoner-made photographs, shedding light on the prison industrial complex. Why do tax-paying, prison-funding citizens rarely get the chance to see such images? And what roles do these pictures play for those within the system? With stark aesthetic detail and meticulous documentation, "Prison Obscura" builds the case that Americans must come face to face with these images and imaging technologies both to grasp the cancerous proliferation of the U.S. prison system and to connect with those it confines.
https://exhibits.haverford.edu/prisonobscura
Presented by the John B. Hurford ‘60 Center for the Arts and Humanities with support from the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.
Filmed by Hilary Brashear and Chris Ward
Edited by Chris Ward
Music by Chris Zabriskie // http://www.http://chriszabriskie.com
In May of 2009, I was honored to be part of a Prison Issues residency at the Blue Mountain Center. While there I had the honor of being in the company of some amazing people. Artists, activist from around the world provided over two weeks of inspiration, knowledge, and camaraderie.
While doing my individual research, I happened upon some maps created by Rose Heyer that showed the growth of the US Prison system. With that information, I was inspired to create Proliferation, an animated mapping of the US Prison system set to original music.
Timeline
Green Dots: 1778-1900
Yellow Dots: 1901-1940
Orange Dots: 1941-1980
Red Dots: 1981-2005
Nathan Eyring – Animation
Aaron Bourget- Video Editing
Rose Heyer – Research
Troy Glessner – Music Mastering
Special Thanks:
Blue Mountain Center- Prison Issues Residency
Fellow Activists of the Prison Issues Residency
Peter Wagner
Prison Policy Initiative
Prisoners of the Census
Washington State Arts Commission/Artist Trust Fellowship
Cornish College of the Arts
Jess Van Nostrand
www.paulrucker.com