Sara Bennett

For the past 4 years, I have been photographing formerly incarcerated women in their bedrooms. All were convicted of serious crimes — mostly homicide — and spent fourteen to thirty-five years in a maximum-security prison. By the time they came up for parole they were all profoundly changed, yet most of them were repeatedly denied release because of the crimes they had committed decades earlier.

These women were open and trusting enough to allow me into their most private spaces — their bedrooms — and to share the handwritten comments that accompany the photos. Like me, they hope this work will shed light on the pointlessness of extremely long sentences and arbitrary parole denials, and thus help their friends still in prison: women (and men) like them who deserve a chance at freedom. Like me, they envision a United States where mass incarceration is no longer the norm.

Website www.lifeafterlifeinprison.com