Lost Promise
According to the U.S. Department of Justice the prison and jail population of the United States was 2.2 million as of December 31, 2005.
Judging by popular culture, crime plays a large part in our lives. Television entertains us with shows like the “CSI” and “Law and Order” franchises. We elect leaders based on their “get tough on crime/terror” platforms and our folk speak is peppered with phrases from shared criminal events: “Can’t we all just get along?” from Rodney King after the riots that took his name. “Going Postal” explains a seemingly irrational act. “OJ” functions as a reference point for racism, bad police work, cultural divides, and getting away with murder.
The criminal justice system, seemingly by design, dehumanizes everyone connected with it either by choice or by constraint. And even though the public cannot get enough of the television versions, most of us would prefer that real life stay behind the curtain.
Lost Promise, started in 1994, examines the criminal justice system in San Francisco and, by extension, the United States. In some cases, I emphasize those who work in the system and, in other cases, those who are caught in the system. The goal of this project has been, through photos and interviews, to shed some light on a key institution of our society and to contrast the reality of this institution with its depictions in popular culture.
Take A Picture, Tell A Story, portraits and stories of people associated with jail, is the project’s latest “chapter.” Other sections of this project include: “Tournament of Shadows - The Pubic Defender and the Courts,” “Street Cop,” “Jail,” “Homicide,” and “Tears for the Tiers - The Closing of California’s Oldest County Jail.”