About the speaker
Pete Brook is a freelance writer and curator interested in social justice. He writes and edits Prison Photography, a website that analyzes imagery produced within, and about, the American prison industrial complex. Pete has lectured internationally, taught art in prisons, volunteered with Books To Prisoners, served as a University Beyond Bars board member. He has curated multiple shows, including Non Sufficient Funds, Vermillion Gallery, Seattle, WA (Apr 2010); Cruel and Unusual, Noorderlicht Gallery, Holland (Feb-Apr 2012); The Depository Of Unwanted Photographs, Photoville, New York (Sept. 2013); and Seen But Not Heard, Kulturni Centar Belgrada, Belgrade, Serbia (Dec, 2013); and Prison Obscura, Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery, Haverford, PA (Jan-Mar 2014). His writing has appeared in Aperture Magazine, The Oregonian, Huffington Post among others. Prison Photography has been recognized as one of the best photography blogs by LIFE.com, The British Journal of Photography and The Daily Beast. His activities have been featured by Carville Annex, The New York Times, The British Journal of Photography, Featureshoot and DVAFOTO. He writes regularly about photography for WIRED.
Favorite quotes from this talk See all
I wanna persuade people to care about this issue that's largely invisible.
We have a culture that routinely laughs about prison rape.
I argue in the mainstream media, (prisons) are fetishized and prisoners are largely cast as the other. I want to convince people that prisoners are us and the prisons are ours. Prisoners are a part of our society. And so it is incumbent on us to care about how they function, and to analyze and keep check if they’re doing things well.
Imprisonment in America, is a huge social experiment, and I argue that it's failed.
Our prisons aren't full of dangerous predators, whatever our politicians would like to tell us.
Photos from this talk See all
Hosted by
Ziba Auditorium
810 NW Marshall St.
Portland, OR United States
Date
Partners
Citizen
Simple
52 Limited
Ziba
Photographer Scott Larsen
Videographer Jason de Parrie-Turner
