Remorseful, Resilient, Dignified: Women in Prison
Linda, 70, in the rec room for the medically unemployed at Taconic Correctional Facility, 2019. Sentence: 30 years to life @ Sara Bennett, Looking Inside
As Women's History Month comes to a close, Musée explores the images of women in prison. This time, we will focus on the injustices women face when dealing with the American criminal justice system, and how photography reveals the life in prison.
"We don't see that many images of women in prison. Which is why I focused all of my attention on them – people don't even think about them as a part of the system. If you ask a person to imagine someone in prison, they're going to imagine a man."
Sara Bennett is an ex-public defender turned photographer, who has been taking images of women who are or were incarcerated with life sentences. Her knowledge of the system allows her to confront this issue from a unique perspective, while her personal interests add an unmistakable passion for justice.
Kat, 43, outside her housing unit at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, 2019. Sentence: life without parole @ Sara Bennett, Looking Inside
While incarcerated women arguably receive less attention than men, they make up a significant portion of people affected by mass incarceration in the US. Moreover, it is often reported that while serving their time, women receive harsher punishments than men for less serious misconduct. Being at the mercy of prison guards, one can receive a severe punishment for almost anything: being in a wrong place at the wrong time; wearing a shirt that is too tight or too short; or having said something that is disliked by the guards. Outside prison, there is even more uncertainty in the criminal justice system. While all women Bennett photographed are convicted of homicide, they received different sentences due to the randomness of the system. One's sentence can be affected by many things, such as what county they are tried in, who the district attorney or the judge is.
Tracy at Mount Olive Baptist Church. Englewood, NJ (2015) @ Sara Bennett, Life After Life In Prison
Such absence of standardization and an abundance of wrongdoings within the system forced Bennett to find a new way to humanize one of her clients in front of a governor as she was working a case. Because she was exposed to the art world through her photographer husband, Bennett came up with a photo project, Spirit on the Inside, where she interviewed and photographed women who served time along with Bennett's client. As she was trying to present the positive influence of the client onto other women, Bennett decided that photography may be a significant tool in uncovering a woman's life in prisons.
Bennett's future projects, such as the Life After Life in Prison, continues to highlight the unusual obstacles female prisoners have to deal with. Here, Bennett follows women who are going through a "re-entry process", something that occurs when they serve long sentences and must reintegrate into society.
"I always said that the women I was photographing were standing for the women they left behind. One of them, Tracy, I followed for almost six years now. I watched her come home and try to navigate housing and jobs. She lived in 5 different places during the course of the first year that I knew her. And through it all, she just had the most incredible attitude: that's what she had to do and that's what she was gonna do."
Tracy with her grandson, Joshia. (Bergenfield, NJ 2015) @ Sara Bennett, Life After Life in Prison
Tracy out on delivery for McDonalds. New York, NY (2016) © Sara Bennett, Life After Life in Prison
Her other unique work, Looking Inside, focuses on what is going on within the prison walls. It became an emotional manifesto, as it vigorously zoomed in on the women locked inside. In this project, they shared their dreams and who they are, how they occupy their time with and what they've done to be incarcerated. More than that, Looking Inside provides us with a rare look on what the inside of the prison looks like and how it is run. The photographs taken by Bennett received a wide range of appreciation, which she witnessed when presenting some of her works at Photoville.
"People were surprised by how ordinary – in the best sense of the word – these women are. She could be your aunt, mother, or a daughter. People were so moved, they wrote letters to the imprisoned women. I've filled 34 notebooks with their writings."
Elizabeth, 52, in the mess hall at Taconic Correctional Facility, 2019. Sentence: 20 years to life. @ Sara Bennett, Looking Inside
Jennifer, 21, in the infant center at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, 2019. Sentence: 19 years to life @ Sara Bennett, Looking Inside
The work that Bennett has done continues to shed light on the underrepresented side of the U.S. criminal system, in which women play a larger role every day. Her photographs not only bring attention to the hardship that falls on imprisoned women, but also remind us of their humanity and complex femininity.
You can view more of Bennett's work here.
