A 12-yeawr-old juvenile in his windowless cell at Harrison County Juvenile Detention Center in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Juvenile detention statistics are abstract and impersonal. While nearly 1.7 million juvenile cases are processed through the courts each year, higher than any other developed nation, seldom do we hear the individual stories of children affected by this giant and sometimes merciless system.
Children in juvenile detention facilities are often depicted as troubled, misguided, and a danger to themselves and others. To many they are both nameless and worthless.
Richard Ross wants to change that- through his art.
In a stirring new exhibit at the Ronald Feldman Fine Arts gallery, Ross puts a more personal face on the impacts of our nation’s juvenile justice system. Over a five-year period, the photographer visited more than 200 institutions in 31 states and interviewed more than 1,000 juveniles. He was able to gain unprecedented access to the facilities and those both working and living there. The exhibit includes several dozen of his works from this period, along with props like a detention uniform and handcuffs.
Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center, Mendota, Wisconsin.
Most photographs are accompanied by an excerpt of Ross’ interview with the depicted subject. The children explain their situation, their crimes, their home lives and their lives in detention. “I wanted to give a voice to those with the least amount of authority in any U.S. confinement system,” Ross wrote in a press release.
The large photographs, printed in vivid color and detail, offer a very personal look at experiences most of us know little about. Some of the stories are harrowing- like the 12-year-old boy confined to a small, windowless cell, or the young teenager who’s never had a single visitor, even though he was arrested and sentenced months ago.
None of the kids in the photographs have their faces visible- probably due to their age and other legal concerns at the facilities. But this aspect of each photograph is an incredibly important detail. Ross has given these children voices to tell their story, but like cogs in a machine they continue to remain faceless- unknown and easily forgotten. The body language in the photographs is both powerful and emotional. However the lack of true physical identity should remind everybody about the psychosocial effects of their confinement, and the real lack of empathy for youth offenders.
Photo taken in Postville, Iowa.
Our nation’s juvenile justice system is a rare topic of conversation. Yet nearly 3 out of every 4 youth sentenced to residential facilities are not there for violent felony crimes, and children as young as 11 have been ordered life-in-prison sentences. This exhibit makes you reflect on these facts and perhaps how they in turn reflect our modern American society.
Ross’ beautiful yet upsetting images should make us all stop and think about how we view and treat juvenile delinquents in our country. His photographs are a great attention caller to a much under-served problem.
*Juvenile-In-Justice is on display until February 16
