the prison photo project
The objective of the prison photo project international is to provide insights into contemporary places of detention in Europe. Until now, establishments of deprivation of liberty in Switzerland, Portugal and Germany have been visited and photographed. The plan is to continue to document prisons in other European countries.
Five exhibitions have already been realized, four in Portugal and one in Switzerland, all but two in former prisons converted into museums and exposition centres.
The prison photo project international is based on an initiative of the prison historian Daniel Fink and the photographer Peter Schulthess who have been joining forces and sharing ideas since 2002, to mount exhibitions and publish books.
The Projects in Portugal and Switzerland
the portuguese prison photo project is a prison documentation and exhibition project using photography that was initiated by Daniel Fink in 2015 in Porto. It provides insights into contemporary prisons of Portugal, from the largest and oldest dating back to 1880 to the newest ones shot by Luis Barbosa, a Portuguese photographer, and Peter Schulthess, a Swiss photographer, in three phases between 2016 and 2023.
Four exhibitions of photographs have been organized. Two were located in former prisons transformed into museums: the Centro Português de Fotografia (CPF), in Porto, in 2017, and the Museu do Aljube Resistência e Liberdade, in Lisbon, in 2019. A third exhibition was held in the National Archives Torre do Tombo in Lisbon in 2021/22 and a fourth in the Museu de Portimão, a former sardine factory in the south of Portugal, in 2024. The exhibitions also contained a historical part, with prison photographs from State archives, curated by Maria José Moutinho Santos. The last exhibition in Portimão, held 50 years after the end of the Salazar regime, included historical photographs of political prisons used until 1974 and of political prisoners.
the swiss prison photo project is a prison documentation and exhibition project using photography that was started in 2017 in Berne. It provides insights into contemporary prisons of Switzerland, from the largest to the smallest, from the oldest dating back to 1864 to the newest one which was opened in 2020.
One exhibition has taken place so far, at the Polit-Forum in Berne in 2019/2020. It presented photographs shot by the Swiss photographer Peter Schulthess in the years 2017 to 2019. They provided insight into 26 establishments of deprivation of liberty representing around two thirds of all detention places of Switzerland. It was combined with guided tours, round table discussions on sanctions and imprisonment, a film cycle on the subject of prisons and a concert of contemporary music written by a composer during his detention. A book by Peter Schulthess and Aimée Zermatten (Gefängnisse in der Schweiz, Prisons en Suisse) was launched on this occasion.
Timeline
Publication 2024
The 3-volume publication was released in October 2024
Learn more…
Portimão 2024
Lisbon 2021
Berne 2019 – 2020
Lisbon 2019
Porto 2017
The Publications 2024
A 3-volume publication | 2 photobooks softcover with flaps | 1 brochure with photographs and texts in Portuguese and English | about 364 pages total | 244 x 297 mm | sold only as a set
Released in October 2024
This publication of the portuguese prison photo project contains hundreds of photographs of portuguese prisons from Luis Barbosa and Peter Schulthess. The third volume, written by Daniel Fink and Gilda Santos, describes the project, the exhibitions, the prisons and the photographs.
It can be ordered from the University of Porto Press (ISBN 978-989-746-390-7): Publication UPP.
In Switzerland the book (ISBN 978-3-905-731-14-9) can be bought at themaverlag using the order form (Bestellformular/Bulletin de commande) on: Publication themaverlag (see under Publikationen or Publications).
A 3-volume publication: 2 photobooks softcover with flaps + 1 brochure with photographs and texts in Portuguese and English. About 364 pages total (244 x 297 mm). Sold as a set.
Content volume 1: Black and white photographs from Luis Barbosa, taken 2016–2023 in the prisons (Estabelecimento Prisional) de Beja, da Guarda, de Évora, Faro, Leiria (Jovens), Odemira, Silves, Viseu.
Content volume 3: Preface, concept and history of the project, conferences. Exhibitions at the Centro Português de Fotografia in Porto 2017, at the Museo do Aljube Resistência e Liberdade in Lisbon 2019, at the National Archives Torre do Tombo 2021, and at the Museu de Portimão in 2024. Description of the prisons and legends of the photographs in volumes 1 and 2.
