Portfolio

Of Lengths and Measures

The stigma of mass incarceration: prison and the American landscape

Stephen Tourlentes began to notice prisons, especially after dark, when they broadcast their location through the use of surveillance and lighting. He spent 17 years visiting these detention facilities after dark.

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Wyoming State Penitentiary, Rawlins, Carbon County, Wyoming. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Waupun Correctional Institution. Waupun, Wisconsin. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Dodge Correctional Institution. Waupun, Wisconsin. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Taft Correctional Institution. Taft, Kern County, California. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Ossining, New York. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Rikers Island Correctional Facility, New York. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Federal Correctional Institution. Pekin, Illinois. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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California Rehabilitation Center. Norco, Riverside County, California. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. Lucasville, Ohio. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Hill Correctional Center. Galesburg, Illinois. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Holliday Transfer Facility. Huntsville, Texas. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Stateville Correctional Center. Joliet, Illinois. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility Florence ("ADX Florence"). Florence, Colorado. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Hardee Correctional Institution. Bowling Green, Hardee County, Floride. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Fishkill Correctional Facility. Beacon, New york. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Dwight Correctional Center. Dwight, Illinois. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Clinton Correctional Facility. Village of Dannemora, New York – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Delaware – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Federal Correctional Institution. Dublin, California. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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California Institution for Women. Corona, California. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Washington Correctional Facility. Comstock, New York. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Blythe, California. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Arizona State Prison Complex – Lewis. Buckeye, Arizona. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Calipatria State Prison. Calipatria, Imperial County, California. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Auburn Correctional Facility. Auburn, New York. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Arizona State Prison Complex. Florence, Arizona. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Federal Correctional Complex. Terre Haute, Indiana. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Federal Correctional Complex. Allewood, Pennsylvania. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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Holman Correctional Facility. Atmore, Alabama. – © Stephen Tourlentes
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The rural location of many of these prisons keeps them on the periphery of our consciousness

I hope that stripping the image down to mostly light and shadow will entice viewers to engage their own imagination about these places, rather than averting their eyes and ignoring them

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Stephen Tourlentes

Photographer

Stephen Tourlentes is a Boston based artist where he teaches in the Photography Department at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
He is the recipient of artist fellowship grants from various organizations including the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Artadia the Fund for Art and Dialogue, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the MacDowell Colony and the Banff Centre for the Arts.
His work has been exhibited in many museum and gallery venues and is held in many public and private collections. He has been a long time advocate for implementing alternatives to mass incarceration.
His website