(click image to enlarge)
Pt. 1 of 4
Contrary to popular belief, the Essex County Penitentiary was not designed by famed architect John Haviland. Mr. Haviland designed the Essex County Jail in Newark, NJ, approximately 12 miles to the south of the penitentiary. Instead, here's the details…
"Originally constructed in 1862 to hold Confederate prisoners of war, the Essex County Jail Annex functioned as a state penitentiary for many years before eventually being replaced by a new facility to alleviate overcrowding. The county took over the facility eventually and the Essex County Penitentiary became the Essex County Correction Center and housed mostly sentenced inmates. The jail eventually merged with the Essex County Jail in Newark in the early 1980s and was rechristened the Essex County Jail Annex, a name it would carry for the rest of its term. At its peak the jail housed more than 1,800 beds. Essex County finally finished construction of a new prison in Newark in 2003, and all county lockup services were transferred to this new address and the jail in Caldwell was closed." – Mountain Sanitorium
And you were able to get into jail and do these photos and then stroll back out again ? No guards with shotguns ??? No ghosts of guards ? Did you take your "Get Out Of Jail Free" card that day ? Can't believe there are still records laying about, photos, fingerprints... unbelievable ! Sure hope you'll give me some tips someday about how to get into these places... There is a prison building long abandoned, but tightly locked up, that I'd love to get into here to photograph. I did some shots of the exterior that I'm going to post soon, but the inside must be fabulous, but big padlocks and grills and grates everywhere, not an entrance to be found without a blowtorch and large prying bar... and I'm not quite ready to potentially end up behind bars for having tried to pry some bars off... better to just go to the bar and dream about it over a beer instead...
ReplyDeleteIt's both amazing and disturbing what people will leave behind, isn't it? Your prison sounds amazing and with any luck, one day you'll spot an open door with camera in hand! ;)
ReplyDeleteJust did a little digging, the place I'd like to get into in Brest is called Pontaniou, it was closed definitively in 1990 after well over 150 years of housing prisoners. When it closed a photographer went through and did these photos...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.francois-rommens-photographie.fr/galerie.php?act=affgal&idG=51&idV=1
Am going to try writing to the city people and see if I can't get a little tour... Will post very soon the exterior photos I took from a distance, from outside the 30 foot high walls...
Bonjour
ReplyDeleteLe thème des prisons n'a pas de frontière et il nous fait poser les mêmes questions. Ces endroits "interdits" sont les lieux des beaucoup de fantasmes dans l'imaginaire du public, j'ai eu l'occasion d'entendre beaucoup lors de vernissages ou avec un groupe d'enfants visitants mon exposition.
Tes images ressembles finalement aux miennes et me parlent de la même manière.
Merci à toi.
Hello
The theme of Prisons has no boundaries and it makes us ask the sames questions.
These areas "prohibited" are the places of many fantasies in the imagination of the public, I had the opportunity to hear a lot of things in exhibitions with a group of children visiting it.
Your pictures look like eventually to mine and tell me the same way.
Thank you.
Rommens – Thank you for the kind words, which mean a lot coming from someone of your photographic talents. Your work is so rich… so beautiful and continued best in your endeavors. – Cheers, Tom b.
ReplyDeleteMerci beaucoup
ReplyDeleteCordialement
Wow! Regardless of what the place used to be, it is such a shame to allow it to get so dilapitated! The faucets are beautiful, I can only imagine what other treasures are there! (I love both photography and especially old buildings!) Do you know what they are going to do with it? It is amazing they left all the prisoner information there! Excellent pictures!
ReplyDeleteAmanda
Ontario, Canada
Thanks, Amanda. I understand via a local resident that the building will be demolished with the land becoming a public park. The main building's in amazing shape and would be a fantastic, historical monument within it. Of course, that would cost millions of dollars.
ReplyDelete