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Pete Brook
Pete Brook

10.9K Followers

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May 6, 2019

Buy Art and Free Jailed Mamas on Mother’s Day

THE FIGHT against mass incarceration takes many forms: from protesting outside prisons, to blocking jail construction, to journalism that reaches inside, to hearing prisoners’ voices, to making oneself aware of gross abuses, to viewing the most gruesome pictures, to letter writing, to education and more. …

Prison Reform

3 min read

Buy Art and Free Incarcerated Mamas on Mother’s Day
Buy Art and Free Incarcerated Mamas on Mother’s Day
Prison Reform

3 min read


Apr 23, 2019

‘The Depository Of Unwanted Photographs’ gets a second look

An archived archive gets dusted off for a group show about vernacular photo collections — In the summer of 2013, I attempted to temporarily get out of my prison-photo-bubble and find out what people loved about photographs by asking them which of theirs they loved the least. Which did they wish to condemn to the trash-bin of history? For two long weekends at Photoville, a…

Photography

6 min read

‘The Depository Of Unwanted Photographs’ gets a second look
‘The Depository Of Unwanted Photographs’ gets a second look
Photography

6 min read


Apr 9, 2019

Unpacking the Media’s Obsession With Prisoner-Firefighters

Recently, major magazines — and photographers — have portrayed them as redemption in action. Are we seeing the full picture? — In boots, overalls, and gloves, they traipse along forested trails. They carry picks, chainsaws, hose lines, and water canisters. Their goggles, pushed back on their helmets, reflect the tree canopy above. Below, they move through the dust, smoke, and shafts of golden-hour light. The firefighters in Brian Frank’s images are…

Prison Reform

9 min read

Unpacking the Media’s Obsession With Prisoner-Firefighters
Unpacking the Media’s Obsession With Prisoner-Firefighters
Prison Reform

9 min read


Apr 8, 2019

Share and Care

Taking on the stigma of mental health issues, one playlist at a time — SOME YEARS AGO, my hometown community back in Britain was hit hard by the suicide of a friend. He was a musician on the rise and his loss was felt across the isles. Out of the tragedy came a resolve to speak openly about mental health struggles. …

Music

6 min read

Taking On the Stigma of Mental Health Issues, One Playlist at a Time
Taking On the Stigma of Mental Health Issues, One Playlist at a Time
Music

6 min read


Apr 3, 2019

Talk about Teaching at San Quentin Prison

If you’re in San Francisco, consider joining us April 10th — For the latest Creative Mean convening, I will be talking on the theme of Relationships. I’ll be talking about my teaching and learning in the classroom at San Quentin. I’ll reflect on how the ideas about photographs that my students and I hold have shifted and shaped. There’s no scoop…

Prison

1 min read

A Talk about Relationships and Teaching at San Quentin State Prison
A Talk about Relationships and Teaching at San Quentin State Prison
Prison

1 min read


Apr 2, 2019

Photography Exhibition “Reframes” Recovery from Drug Abuse

Images foreground not life’s dark moments but on the light and comparative lightness former users create for themselves. — The War On Drugs has lasted more than 45 years and cost over $1 trillion dollars. Everyone from Rolling Stone to the Cato Institute to the Obama White House has concluded it a failure. The root of the failure is this: A nation cannot incarcerate, punish and brutalize people out…

Drugs

5 min read

Photography Exhibition “Reframes” Recovery from Drug Abuse
Photography Exhibition “Reframes” Recovery from Drug Abuse
Drugs

5 min read


Published in Vantage

·Mar 2, 2019

An Interview with Jeff Adachi

On the week anniversary of the death of SF Public Defender Office’s Chief Attorney, we revisit a 2015 conversation with Adachi about images, equity and justice — Jeff Adachi (1959–2019) was a public servant for over 30 years. From 2002 until his unexpected death on February 22nd, Adachi served as the head of the San Francisco Public Defenders Office. San Francisco is the only county in California that has an elected Public Defender. Adachi won re-election five…

Jeff Adachi

12 min read

An Interview with Jeff Adachi
An Interview with Jeff Adachi
Jeff Adachi

12 min read


Sep 25, 2018

These Photos of Prepper Bags Hold a Mirror to Society

Some preppers are hyper-vigilant while others are more altruistic. The common factor is fear. — “There is no such thing as paranoia. Your worst fears can come true at any moment.” — Hunter S. Thompson Not content with merely imagining disaster, preppers lurch toward it. They play out fearful futures, buying survival goods and stockpiling basements with supplies. They have bought in — spiritually, financially…

Politics

9 min read

These Photos of Prepper Bags Hold a Mirror to Society
These Photos of Prepper Bags Hold a Mirror to Society
Politics

9 min read


Apr 2, 2018

Figureless Portraits that Speak to the Invisible Struggles of LGBTQ Prisoners

Artist Lorenzo Triburgo on how to see absence, photography’s capacity to harm, and the queer voices leading the U.S. prison abolition movement — Originally published by Prison Photography I’ve stated it before but not often or forcefully enough: The LGBTQ community nurtures many of the most effective and motivating voices in the fight for prison abolition. LGBTQ people are frequently subject to the harshest and most dehumanizing treatment at the hands of the…

Criminal Justice Reform

20 min read

Figureless Portraits that Speak to the Invisible Struggles of LGBTQ Prisoners
Figureless Portraits that Speak to the Invisible Struggles of LGBTQ Prisoners
Criminal Justice Reform

20 min read


Mar 11, 2018

After Decades in Prison, Women Pose for Portraits in their Bedrooms

“When you see this photo I took of you, what does it make you think?” — Working as a public defender, Sara Bennett has met a great many women who have faced struggle and hardship. Many serve, or have served, long sentences. Since 1980, the number of incarcerated women has increased by 800% in the U.S. There are nearly 100,000 women in state prisons and federal…

Criminal Justice Reform

10 min read

After Decades in Prison, Women Pose for Portraits in their Bedrooms
After Decades in Prison, Women Pose for Portraits in their Bedrooms
Criminal Justice Reform

10 min read

Pete Brook

Pete Brook

10.9K Followers

Writer, curator and educator focused on photo, prisons and power. Sacramento, California. www.prisonphotography.org

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