Pete Brook

I am in Seattle. I have strong political views about prison reform, particularly in the United States, and increasingly moreso as regards Her Majesty’s Prison Service in the United Kingdom. My background is in Art History and in Gallery & Museum Studies.

I am a very amateur photographer and, therefore, stick to looking and commenting. I can always be persuaded to recognise an argument and rarely stick rigidly to one viewpoint. I am suspicious of people who are absolutely certain about things. I admire people who value shades of grey more than black and whites.

The study of photography in sites and former sites of incarceration combines many of my interests, covering a wide range of stories and systems. How the camera and its operator perform in interpreting the stories and systems seems like a good departure point for discussion.

If a camera is within prison walls we should always be asking; How did it get there? What are/were the motives? What are the responses? I consider the photograph as social document, therefore, what social and political powers are at play in a photograph’s manufacture? And, how is knowledge, related to those powers, constructed?

Contact

I heartily welcome comments, pointers, overlooked resources and general inquiries.

I ask photographers, with images of incarceration as their subject, to take advantage of a rolling submissions invitation.

Please feel free to contact me at prisonphotography [at] gmail [dot] com

I endeavour to return all correspondence.