street portraits

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Maybe this photo of a group of prisoners from Parchman Farm in Mississippi qualifies as a "street portrait". Parchman Farm in rural Mississippi was considered one of the most brutal prisons for almost a century but is quite progressive today. It has always been totally self supporting as a farm and at 28 square miles, one of the largest in land area.

These prisoners are minimum and medium security "green and whites" denoting the color of their stripes. They were doing municipal repair work in Clarksdale Mississippi including "Sarah's Kitchen" a local eatery and nighttime music venue. Sarah had prepared their lunch but they could not eat without OK from their missing security guard. Two of the prisoners were out on a search mission looking for the guard. We had some very interesting conversations while waiting for the guard to return.

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Another Parchman Farm inmate in Clarksdale but shot about 6 years later. He had finished his job at the Sunflower County courthouse and but the bus did not show up to take him back to the prison which was about 25 miles away. I offered him a ride as I was going that way but he was hesitant to leave.

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