February 18-April 1, 2012
Groningen
The Netherlands
Drawing on the work of different photographers, Cruel and Unusual illuminates various aspects of the prison system and the ways it has been depicted in photography: social justice, crime and punishment, the boundaries of liberty. The exhibition is curated by Pete Brook and Hester Keijser.
Pete is the author of the Prison Photography blog, and we’ve featured the recent Kickstarter/Creative Commons project where he took ‘Prison Photography’ on the Road. “Cruel and Unusual” distills some of that work and other contributions as well. You can read about how the project developed here. Pete’s blog is a contribution to both social justice and photography, and he continues to work at finding the right means to raise awareness regarding the US incarceration complex. “Cruel and Unusual” will provide another occasion to consider how the carceral system condemns those within and without, and how photography can reveal and build relationships where before there was only confinement, within and without.
Photograph by Deborah Luster: Pamela Winfield, Easter Bunny, Children’s Visiting Day, Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, St. Gabriel, Louisiana.
Thanks for the support Bob. It means a lot. Since the successful road trip, I’m now, more than ever, aware of my responsibilities to many people: readers, photography lovers and – to degrees difficult to measure – incarcerated people in America. Onward!
[…] No Caption Needed: “Cruel and Unusual will provide another occasion to consider how the carceral system condemns those within and without, and how photography can reveal and build relationships where before there was only confinement, within and without.” […]