Photographer Captures Reality of Juvenile Detention System

Speaking over a slideshow of his photography, video, and audio recordings, photographer Richard Ross presented his work shedding light on the juvenile prison system on Wednesday at the Harvard Kennedy School.

At the event, organized by the Kennedy School's Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management, Ross said he aimed to paint a picture of how this system operates and the youth who come through it.

“I’m trying to figure out what the role of the artist is, in terms of shaping public policy. That’s the interesting battle that I am facing,” Ross said.

For the past several years, Ross has been going around the country, photographing and studying staff and prisoners in juvenile detention facilities as part of his “Juvenile in Justice” project, and creating art expositions to raise public awareness.

Ross said his work requires persistence and stubbornness, telling the audience of his struggles gaining access to places that are otherwise outside the public eye.

“I am trying to make images that will haunt you. I try to do things that you can’t forget and have to be responsible for,” Ross said.

Ross’s presentation featured images of solitary confinement cells, punishment methods, and suicide prevention mechanisms in these centers, juxtaposed with the background stories of the youth sent to serve time in them.

“I try to explain that kids in this world are often defined by the actions of the worst day of their lives,” Ross said.

Ross said his work has to take into account the youths’ identities, including family background, race, and mental health. Recurring themes in their background stories include physical and mental abuse, sexual assault, neglect, and parental substance addiction, he said.

“We’ve criminalized normal adolescent misbehavior. And we’ve selectively criminalized it,” Ross told the audience.

Audience member Antoine Rostagnat said he came to the presentation out of curiosity towards how the U.S. approaches the issue of juvenile detention.

“The one thing that really struck me is that at seven years-old, kids are able to be tried as adults [in some states],” Rostagnat said. “And I’m really trying to figure that out. Why is it like that? When in the first place was it ever like that? And why is it not changing?”