From the inside looking out

Dining Hall - Alcatraz, San Francisco



Maximum Security - Alcatraz, San Francisco



Solitary Confinement - Alcatraz, San Francisco

I couldn't resist studying the way the bars on the windows cast light and shadows on the walls of the prison. Oddly, the maximum security cells were more spacious and nicer. They faced the windows and instead of the tiny 5' x '9 regular cells, if you were bad enough to end up in maxmium security, you moved up to a spacious 8' x 10' cell.

Solitary was just below, and had solid doors with tiny screen holes. One prisoner recounts that he would pull a button from his jacket and pitch it up in the air. He'd then get on his hands and knees and search for it in the dark. Once he found it, he would repeat the activity. This gave him something to do until he was released.

The dining hall was lined with windows. The long light and shadows shown across the numerous layers of flooring that had been piled on top of each other of the years. I counted as many as five different types of tile and concrete.
Library Shelves - Alcatraz, San Francisco


©2009 Laura Smetak All rights reserved.
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