10/09/2016
My work with female prisoners in a state prison here in Atlanta has been part of the Everyday Incarceration Project. The initial catalyst for the work came from The LA Times and an editor who asked me to join her at a women's prison in Georgia where prison guards had been sexually abusing the prisoners. This story led to my desire to see what life was like inside. There are two parts to my project: Portraits of the women and their stories and then a 6 week program at the prison whereby myself and another photographer, Linda Schaefer, brought in cameras(courtesy of Nikon) to allow the women to photograph their experience of every day life inside. Many of the women have been incarcerated as accomplices to drug dealer boyfriends or cashing bad checks. Because of their inability to find good lawyers they wind up in prison with often very long sentences. While this work was created a decade ago, the subject matter is quite pertinent still.
You can see my work at http://www.surianiphoto.com/ =0&at=0&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&p=17
To bring to life dozens of stories about mass incarceration in America, NBC News Investigative Unit’s Hannah Rappleye and Lisa Riordan Seville
