Alcatraz: Seen & Unseen
"Chinatown," below Building 64, Alcatraz, 1999
"Chinatown," below Building 64, Alcatraz, 1999
Toned Gelatin-Silver Print
9x9" Image
20x16" Mat
Artist Statement
Since 1994, I have explored the topic of "place" as a cultural artifact, how objects and environments can resonate with traces of people who have touched them, with the space taking on a life of its own. Many of my images are of settings that people have left behind like empty skins.
I have turned my focus to photographing places that are hard to look at, that we often don't want to look at, or that those in charge don't want us to see. By looking, we encounter aspects of humanity from the past that we reject and want to forget.
Alcatraz: Seen & Unseen
Alcatraz Penitentiary sits atop a small island in the middle of San Francisco Bay, and when the fog rolls in, the bone-chilling dampness permeates every corner. This famous "supermax" prison was used to warehouse bank robbers, famous (and not-so-famous) gangsters, kidnappers, counterfeiters, political prisoners, drug dealers, car thieves and escape-prone men who were often considered troublemakers in other federal institutions. In countless trips there, I have met with the darker sides of human nature, walking in the footsteps of former convicts and guards in places that were never meant to be seen by the public. As you step into a cell, you can sense the emotions trapped in this fortress that prisoners called "Hellcatraz." The vast, cold silence of its cellblocks, corridors and empty spaces speak volumes for the boredom and routine that made up a day in the life here. It was hard on inmates and guards alike.
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