Kehrer Verlag publishes a new book by Sara Bennett, Looking Inside – Women with Life Sentences.
Former public defender Sara Bennett spent over a decade photographing women convicted of homicide and sentenced to life in prison in New York State. Her long-term project traces the women’s lives across time and space: inside prison walls, in their post-incarceration bedrooms, and as they re-enter the outside world after decades behind bars.
Through intimate portraits and personal ephemera—Polaroids, letters, drawings, and handwritten notes—Bennett creates a layered narrative that offers a rare perspective, resisting stereo- type. Looking Inside: Women with Life Sentences is a striking re- minder of the complexity and humanity of women who are, and have always been, far more than the single act that sent them to prison for life.
The publication is complemented by a powerful afterword by Judith Clark, who served 38 years in prison and is now Director of the Survivors Justice Project, alongside additional pictorial endnotes by Bennett that further expand the project’s context.
From the book:
Just because we ask for a second chance at life doesn’t mean we have forgotten what we have done; it means we were once part of the problem and to heal those we have hurt, we must be part of the solution, part of the conversation. You’ve held the state ac- countable by our punishment. Now let us show you how we’ve held ourselves accountable to your pain.
Patrice, age 36 – Incarcerated at the age of 16 in 1998 – Sentence: 25 years to life – Released: 2020
From the book:
My children were one and three years old when I left them and I felt as if they were one and three the whole time I was away. I feel that way about myself now. I was arrested when I was 19 and being in this big, unfamiliar, advanced world makes me feel like a 19-year-old trapped in a 45 year old body; like putting a kinder- gartener in college.
Aisha, age 45 – Sentence: 25 years to life –Served 25 years – Re- leased 2016
Sara Bennett is a New York based photographic artist and 2024 Guggenheim Fellow. As a former defense attorney, she uses pho- tography to draw attention to the problems of mass incarcera- tion. Her work has been exhibited widely in museums and gal- leries, including MoMA PS1 and the Museum of the City of New York, and is in the collections of several museums.
Judith Clark is the Director of the Survivors Justice Project, which fights for decarceration through the implementation of New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act. During her 38 years in prison, she helped create peer organizations including ACE (AIDS Counseling and Education) and the committee that helped bring back college after public funding was eliminated.
Coming exhibitions:
Solo show, BAXTER ST at CCNY, New York, New York, February 3 – April 7, 2027
Sara Bennett and Mark Loughney, Bader & Simon, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 1 – June 8, 2027
Sara Bennett : Looking Inside – Women with Life Sentences
Kehrer Verlag
Texts by Sara Bennett, Judith Clark
Designed by Teun van der Heijden, Heijdens Karwei
Softcover with inner and outer cover, laser die-cutting, and shortened pages
21,6 x 27,4 cm
256 pages
191 color ills.
English
ISBN 978-3-96900-238-4
Euro 48,00 / US$ 58.00
www.kehrerverlag.com
