Prison Landscapes - Alyse Emdur

In 2005, Alyse Emdur found a photograph of herself visiting her older brother in prison. She was posing in front of a tropical beach scene. Such backdrops, often painted by talented inmates, are used within American prisons as portrait studios.

Prison Landscapes brings together over 100 images of prison inmates representing themselves in front of visiting room backdrops. This little-known and largely physically inaccessible genre of painting and portraiture is normally seen only by inmates, visitors, and prison employees. Created specifically for escapism and self-representation, the paintings of tropical beaches, fantastical waterfalls, mountain vistas, and cityscapes invite sitters to perform fantasies of freedom.

Four Corners, 2012
Softcover, 176pp 
235 x 165mm