What They Wanted to See: Images for People in Solitary Confinement
Finale Event for Exhibition of Photo Requests from Solitary at Brooklyn Public Library Celebrates Creative Collaboration That Spans Prison Walls
Photo Requests from Solitary, an art project sponsored by Solitary Watch, invites people in solitary confinement to request an image of anything, real or imagined, and finds volunteers on the outside to make the images for them. Since April 20, a special site-specific exhibition of Photo Request from Solitary has been at the Brooklyn Public Library, organized around the question, “What would someone in solitary confinement want to see?”
During the exhibition period, project organizers encouraged viewers and others to create as many images as possible to fulfill open requests, and upload them to the project website. We received dozens of photographs, drawings, and Photoshopped images created for people in solitary confinement. A few samples appear below.
On June 20, Brooklyn Public Library will host a finale event for the exhibition, which ends on July 1. A roundtable of artists, designers, advocates, and a survivor of solitary confinement will present requests and images and lead a discussion about the project, art and activism, solitary confinement, and mass incarceration, while celebrating the imagery made through a creative collaboration that spans prison walls. Participants who have filled requests during this exhibition are invited to come and present their work at the finale event.
The event is free and open to the public, and all are welcome. Please come early or stay late to view the exhibition! If you plan to attend, please register for the event here: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/you-made-what-they-wanted-central-library-info-20190620.
You Made What They Wanted to See: Images for People in Solitary Confinement
Thursday, June 20, 6:30–8:00 pm
Brooklyn Public Library, Information Commons (back left of the Grand Lobby)
10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, New York
Follow @Photos2Solitary on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to stay connected!
Explore photorequestsfromsolitary.org to find request to fill.
Visit nycaic.org/action to learn how you can help end solitary confinement in New York State.
The exhibition of Photo Requests from Solitary at the Brooklyn Public Library was supported by a grant from the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation. Special thanks to Cora Fisher, Curator of Visual Art Programming at the Brooklyn Public Library, for making this exhibition possible.
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