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The Chain, The Maze, The Dirty, The IncarceratedDocumenting the conditions of detention centers is not a novel preoccupation of Magnum photographers, nor is reflecting on the philosophy versus the reality of incarceration. Donovan Wylie, Chien Chi Chang, Carl de Keyzer, Alex Majoli and Jean Gaumy have all produced books related to this topic.
For nearly 30 years, the Maze prison, ten miles outside Belfast, played a unique role in the Northern Ireland troubles. Built in 1976, it became a microcosm of the struggle between loyalists and republicans, with prisoners segregated in the infamous H-Blocks according to their political beliefs and membership of paramilitary organizations. It was the scene of violent protests, hunger strikes, mass escapes and deaths of both prisoners and prison staff. Read more about Donovan Wylie's book 'The Maze' The Long Fa Tang Temple in southern Taiwan is both a sanctuary and a prison for 700 mental patients. The temple administers neither medications nor treatments used in other such institutions. Instead, the Buddhist monks and nuns who oversee the patient population employ chains for "therapeutic" purposes. Learn more about Chien Chi Chang's book 'The Chain' For three years Jean Gaumy photographed daily life in a few ordinary French prisons: Saint-Martin de Ré, Caen, Rouen, Melun. He worked freely and frankly, if not with no difficulty, with prisoners who were photographed only with their agreement. What interests him foremost is making pictures worthy of the human beings: with quiet certitude, thirty-nine pictures testify to this patient three-year long work. Learn more about Jean Gaumy's book 'Les Incarceres' "All I know about Leros is in this book. I know that this is another story about crazy people, many crazy people, more than 4,000 at first. I know that 'Leros' means dirty, and that they came to this island from all over Greece, chosen from among the worst cases, the ones they'd given up on in the psychiatric hospitals. I know that they were housed in an ex-military base on the island, which had previously been used as a jail for all political prisoners. Learn more about Alex Majoli's book 'Leros' Carl De Keyzer took this journey to photograph the prisons today in Siberia. With two army colonels as his shadows, one to the left and one to the right, he photographed what he was allowed to see, and no more. But in place of dark concealment, he has instead revealed a kind of winter wonderland, a Disneyland where all normal credibility is suspended. Learn more about Carl de Keyzer's book Zona
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Reader comments (8)
Excellent review of Chien Chi Chang's book, The Chain, in Lens Culture:
http://www.lensculture.com/chain.html
Comment posted by Jim Casper on March 22, 2007
People might also like to look at Jane Evelyn Atwood's work on Women in Prison: janeevelynatwood.com
Comment posted by James Cox on March 23, 2007
great
Comment posted by james.mcveigh2@btopenworld.com on March 27, 2007
i love your black and white images they are great!
and i really like the way you capture the depth of feild
Comment posted by matthew porter on March 28, 2007
MENTAL PATIENS: i like how this photos sais , !you only know a smal part there is ,in these child meant and in these place! its live.
Comment posted by irene on March 29, 2007
Discovering this blog. As many "amateurs", I consider Magnum as the one reference agency. I was curious about the blog.
It is great!
I will be back often, and follow the development of this blog with the greatest interest.
Thanks guys!!!
Comment posted by Alain RIO on April 1, 2007
A very good work about females in jail by the Mexican photographer Patricia Aridjis.
Name of her work: "horas negras"
here is the link: http://zonezero.com/EXPOSICIONES/fotografos/aridjis/indexsp.html
Have a nice day!
Comment posted by Alain RIO on April 13, 2007
"Documenting the conditions of detention centers is not a novel preoccupation of Magnum photographers, nor is reflecting on the philosophy versus the reality of incarceration. Donovan Wylie, Chien Chi Chang, Carl de Keyzer, Alex Majoli and Jean Gaumy have all produced books related to this topic." Indeed. But one may ask "with what purpose"? It's not that following the publication of their books the photographers went out of their way to argue for better prison conditions; to alert the world to abuses; to educate the world on human rights. Instead, they are artists. In my opinion, these productions represent more of a fine line between 'art' -in the sense that the photos possess a recognizable estetique. And then there is also a sprinkle of the voyeur thrown into the mix. Perhaps this is why there are so many publications on mental asylums, prisons, war, neglect, hunger and the plague. It sells. Editors love it. Because it offers the buyer a peek into the abyss. Sometimes I have the feeling that the photographers attracted to this genre conduct themselves as the proverbial "priest in a whorehouse".
Comment posted by Peter on July 30, 2007