Thug Life

Cárcel de San Sebastián, Costa Rica, 2013.

Conocer un poco acerca de la realidad que enfrentan los privados de libertad en las cárceles de nuestro país, es tan solo asomarse a un mundo lleno de incomprensión y olvido.

Por medio de sus espacios, de sus objetos, de su cotidianeidad, podríamos quizá conocer su historia, sin darnos cuenta que tal vez esta realidad sea una de muchas que se disipan en el tiempo, en un mar de historias similares que nunca llegan a ser escuchadas.

«One of the hardest things while making a photo is to give life to a frame lacking life itself.

Yet with these images the photographer has done exactly that. By showing us a glimpse of how these inmates personalize their surroundings by using whatever is at hand as a way of creating a sense of ownership and while trying to dictate a modicum of control in a world where the will of individual is taken away.

The empty bed with the lattice of light on the wall and a message of love by itself might be a good indicator of a life spent in confinement. However the need of the inmate to further explained that these names are of his children; changes the nature of the image from empty space to a space where a live is being “lived.”

The image of the bars shows once more the antropomorphizing of a space by the presence of shoes representing the need of the human being to impose its humanity upon its surroundings regardless of the nature of said space.

The painting of a caring farmer tending to a budding tree painted in bright colors in an otherwise monochromatic world assuages the severity of the circumstances by showing nascent life in an environment designed to take away the essence of the individual.

The parting shot of the view from within a metal fence towards the natural landscape transcends the components of the image to that of one of hope for freedom.»

Essdras M Suarez / Pulitzer Prizewinner Photographer