Jenn Ackerman

Studying mental illnesses I came across this modern day photographer which looks at the mental illness/prision side of America. Ackerman likes to focus on the subcultures in the United States that are often misunderstood and overlooked including mental illness in prison. She likes to work in intimate close settings and show the viewer stories of people which have rarely been told.

Her images are a documentation of how you can be trapped and lost, this is conveyed by black and white as it takes the life and soal out of the photo.

Her images can either be natural or staged shown here.



This is one of Ackerman images. This I think has been staged and it shows the audience of being trapped. I think it's a really effective photo such as the use of black and white and a black vignette around the corners, like the vignette is enclosing on the picture making it seem even more trapped. The person used is not out of focus but we can't see him sharply which makes it seem more realistic but yet questioning who is the person as we only see their name and number, that is how they are in prision just a number with no identity reflecting feeling lonely and lost.



This image seems more natural and not staged, she would have used shutter speed on the guard to catch his move, this could have been done to show how many times he has to walk this prision that its a hourly occurance and it's never ending, these peoples lives are in here and there is no escape. She has taken the photo behind the bars for a specific reason to show being trapped.