APAD blog

Feb. 13, 2014 at 1:03pm with 29 notes

5 questions pete brook prison photography

Pete Brook is a freelance writer and curator. Pete likes images in general, but prison images specifically — he thinks they may have instructional value. Pete is confused why caring about prisons is seen as radical. Being concerned about millions of men, women and children who are locked up for unjustifiably long sentences seems quite reasonable to him.

He can be found: on twitter | on instagram | on the Web.

(Photographer Unknown. Group holding cages, C-Yard, Building 13, Administrative Segregation Unit, Mule Creek State Prison, August 1st, 2008.

The Brown v. Plata appendix images represented a cache of hundreds of low-resolution, anonymous, poorly lit photographs used in the initial filings and ongoing compliance stages of the case. Life-changing circumstances rested upon these images.)

1. You have an interesting perspective — one where you’re extremely knowledgable and fully emerged in the photojournalism community, yet you’re not a photographer. And don’t claim to be one. What are your observations of the wide range of photographers and their work that you come across?

Well, that’s not a small topic to begin with! Basically, what do I think of photography, right?

I think photography is lively and as living as ever. Definitely, not dead. There’s as many different reasons for making photographs as there are photographers. There are more-and-more images out there, but that’s not photography’s problem, it’s just a solution each viewer/reader/user needs to find to best filter.

The financial rewards — particularly in news photography — have lowered significantly, there’s no doubt about that, but there’s so many opportunities to make new types of images. The internet has helped. Not only for distribution of work but for a stomping ground for working through ideas more quickly. Renowned photojournalist Ashley Gilbertson says Twitter was a game changer for him. Suddenly, he was involved in discussions with engaged folks around the globe and ideas for stories emerged at a quick pace. Photographers know what others are up to. No photographer wants to repeat what’s already been done and I think social media helps photographers avoid that.

I’d hazard to guess that more photographers today are freelancers. Freelancing can be grueling; the lack of certainty can wear you down (I’m a freelance writer, I know) but it can also work to your advantage. I know plenty of photographers who’ll do a few weddings each year and loads of photographers who’ll do commercial gigs. Many photographers teach and lots of photographers live lean lifestyles in order to be flexible and spontaneous. Let’s face it no-one these days is in photography for the money. If you can find a balance and a steady livable income then there’s no excuse not to be making good photographs.

Does livable include a pension fund, good health insurance, a college fund for the kids? It should do but, I’m not sure it does. So that brings up another fear of mine — that photography is a game for the young and restless; that older, wiser heads who can chase down good stories and tell them right are being forced out of the medium because there’s little-to-no security. But my job (and your question) is not to figure out the infrastructure of the photo-economy.

Generally, photographers who know WHY they’re making their images are making good ones. Good photographers tend to keep an eye on what’s going on around them, sucking in information so they know the gaps to needle in their own work. Usually those photographers are responding to their own ideas or needs they have identified. Often I speak to college faculty and they’re teaching studio and lab, digital and film darkroom techniques very well but there’s no photo-history class. I’ve heard photographers (really famous ones!) say they’d not been introduced to Friedlander’s work until grad school. That’s crazy and it needs to change. Good ideas and not good gear is what drives good photography.

As for the range of stuff I come across. Well, I like a lot of different stuff.

Sometimes, a photographer gets super lucky and has creative freedom while on staff — think of Marcus Yam’s multiple exposure Seattle project shot or any of Damon Winter’s experiments at the New York Times. Photographers such as Angel Franco and Todd Heisler too can produce time-after-time from within the newsroom set-up.

I look at wire photographers (Goran Tomasevic, Oded Balilty); and agency photojournalists/collective photographers (Nina Berman, Anastasia Taylor Lind, Ed Kashi, Peter van Agtmael, Kadir van Lohuizen); documentary photographers (Linda Forsell, Boreal Collective and Prime Collective); the unattached young and hungry (Daniel Tepper, Ruddy Roye, Whitten Sabbatini, Maisie Crow, Daniel Shea); fine artists (Edmund Clark, Jon Rafman, Mishka Henner) even commercial shooters (Charles Engman, Jenny Hueston, Brandon Geeting, Clayton Cotterell). I could go on and on.

2. Photographers often try to affect perception on social issues. You’re passionate about educating people about prisons, their conditions and their effectiveness. How do you feel photography in prisons plays a part in social understanding and change, if any, not just in the U.S. but also abroad?

For a start, photography shows us something. At least it fucking shows us something! Prisons are hidden. People haven’t a clue what abuses go on routinely in prisons in this country. It’s an absolute disgrace and we don’t care and we don’t see it and we’ve decided that people in prison aren’t worth our care any more. Many of us probably don’t even want to see it. Our mainstream culture jokes about prison rape. Laughs about it. Straight up jokes about death-sentence-afflicting severe sexual violence. What the fuck is wrong with us? I don’t usually yell like this but this pally-pally-APAD Q&A format seems like it can manage the strain of a bit of honest talk. Seriously, what the hell is the matter with this country that we’ve battered our poorest populations and dumped 2.3 million folks into jails and prisons. And give them nothing. No protection, no training, no rehabilitation, no work, no treatment. Shit, in California, they didn’t even give them proper health care and prisoners were dying at a rate of one preventable death per 10 days for years. The Supreme Court of America eventually ruled on that case.

So, I hope photography does something. One thing I am wary of is to presume it’s all about photographers though. I’ll look at all imagery coming out of prisons. I just curated a show called ‘Prison Obscura’ and it included surveillance images, evidentiary photographs, prisoner made works and photographs made through various collaboration between artist/prisoner/activists.

No matter how well meaning a documentary photographer is, they’re most usually inside a prison by invitation of the prison administration itself. There’s always an argument to say that they’re acting as an extension of the prison’s power. We need to be aware of what circumstances allow an image’s manufacture.

3. What are you looking for when filtering through photographers and their work to be featured on WIRED’s Raw File photography blog? And why?

What I’m looking for and what other Raw File writers are looking for differs, but we’re always passing work among ourselves and asking each other’s opinion.

For me, sometimes it’s how the images look and sometimes its the story that determines coverage. If the images are crisp and smart then we’re not going to have any problem showing them off; people love them some eye-candy. If the photos attend to a longer story or issue then it’s incumbent on me to explain why the images are important and get the gist of the story across in the first few lines.

I like work that is about America, society, actual people, some history perhaps, cats, quarries, desertification, machine guns, mustache championships, international arms dealing. Stories about class struggle. Little interest in commercial stuff.

We tend to focus on photographers and feature single series. We want to applaud individuals.

4. You’re a smart, funny dude. What question do you think people should be asking you that they never do?

Does auto-American-English spell check wind me up? (Yes, it does, greatly). Why do we not respect school teachers? How many countries can you name that end with the letter ’N’? Why do we get pissed off at people who have jobs with pensions, when instead we should be pissed off at the society that suppresses the radical notion that, perchance, we should ALL have pensions? Why is only 11% of America’s workforce unionised? Why do the 85 richest people in the world possess the equivalent wealth of the 3.5 billion poorest? Why is casual racism on U.S. right wing cable news shows not prosecuted as criminal and inciting hate speech? What’s the vibe? What’s my favorite colour?

5. You’re a Brit living in America. How’s that working for you?

Great. Good health. A few friends. I’ve found my passion. I have a modest but reliable income. I can never not ever afford food. No major stresses. I reckon I’m fairing a hell of a lot better than many other fine folks living in the U.S.

I guess I’m always a bit of an outsider which helps me when I’m meeting folk and talking to them in my work. I fall outside categorization. I’m lucky. How’s America working out for Americans is probably a better question right now. Jeez USA, sort out your class inequality, already.