Window Into Solitary

This project evolved beyond documenting those who endured solitary confinement; it became a collaborative act of empowerment.

As someone formerly incarcerated, my shared experience built trust and allowed for honest collaboration, giving the men agency in their representation. Ferry rides to Alcatraz and many phone calls helped me understand them and lay the foundation for these meaningful images. Their stories and activism were central, shifting the narrative away from stereotype to strength and dignity.

Beyond my subjects, I saw the penitentiary not just as a backdrop but as a character, its history and consequences echoing throughout. For me, the project was both healing and empowering; a way to reclaim control in a space that once held power over me.

The project and these men were inspiring, proof that even after incarceration, there is room for transformation and hope.

Brian Frank

Brian Frank documents cultural identity, social inequality, violence, workers’ rights, and the environment across the Americas.

Recently, Brian received a For Freedoms/National Geographic grant to work on faith and labor among California Central Valley migrant workers. He is a Journalism Professor and a Catchlight Global Fellow. His work with Catchlight, the Pulitzer Center, and the Marshall Project documents mass incarceration and develops visual education programs in juvenile centers and impacted communities.

He has led visual storytelling workshops for educators, journalists, and youth across the U.S. and Mexico and lectured on visual curricula at universities, including Harvard.

His two-year project, Downstream, Death of the Colorado, is in the collection of the United States Library of Congress and won POYi’s Global Vision Award. La Guerra Mexicana, a project on Mexico’s violence and drug war, won NPPA’s Domestic News Picture Story of the Year. His work has appeared in publications nationwide.

After graduating from SFSU’s Journalism program, Brian worked for The Wall Street Journal and now focuses on documentary work in California, the Southwest, and Mexico.

Window Into Solitary

“Window into Solitary” is a photography exhibition with the goal to educate and activate the public about the profound impact and harrowing consequences of the widespread use of solitary confinement in American prisons.

The exhibit focuses on 17 formerly incarcerated people from across the U.S. who have spent extensive amounts of time in solitary. In addition to powerful photographic images, the exhibit includes written testimony by the participants about their experiences in solitary confinement and their thoughts about its widespread use across the U.S. carceral system.

Produced by

Look2Justice
www.look2justice.com

Social Documentary Network
www.socialdocumentary.net