©Sara Bennett, TRACY, 51, in her own apartment three-and-a-half years after her release. Jamaica, NY (2017) Sentence: 22 years to life Served: 24 years Released: February 2014

For the past 8 years, I have been photographing women with life sentences, both inside and outside prison.  I’ve long believed that if judges, prosecutors, and legislators could see people convicted of serious crimes as individual human beings, they would rethink the policies that either lock them away forever or make it extremely difficult for them to be released and rejoin society.

I am thrilled to be the guest editor for Lenscratch this week, to have the opportunity to highlight women photographers who are focusing on women in the criminal system. The week starts out with photographs from my series, Life after Life in Prison: The Bedroom Project, in which I photograph women, released after decades in prison, in their most intimate spaces, their bedrooms. Tomorrow, Julia Rendleman takes us inside a jail in central Virginia where women help each other get through a Heroin Addiction Recovery Program. On Wednesday, through Jessica Earnshaw’s lens, we meet an 82-year-old woman who has spent more than half her life in a prison in Iowa. On Thursday, the photographs of  Deborah Espinosa introduce us to the collateral consequences of convictions. And on Friday, Olivia Gay provides a little levity, showing us the playful side of women through an arts program in a French prison.

Through all of our work, we hope to expand an understanding of the criminal system as it relates to women, the fastest growing population of incarcerated people in the United States and always the most forgotten.

KAREN, 69, in a homeless shelter four weeks after her release. East Village, NY (2017) Sentence: 25 years to life Served: 35 years Released: April 2017

After spending 18 years as a public defender, Sara Bennett turned her attention to photographing women with life sentences, both inside and outside prison. Her work has been widely exhibited and featured in such publications as The New York Times, The New Yorker Photo Booth, and Variety & Rolling Stone’s “American (In)Justice.” @sarabennett brooklyn, lifeafterlifeinprison.com

LINDA, 70, in her own apartment 14 years after her release. Albany, NY (2017) Sentence: 17 years to life Served: 14 years. Granted clemency by Governor George Pataki Released: February 2003

MIRIAM, 51, in transitional housing two months after her release. Corona, NY (2018) Sentence: 20 years to life Served: 30 years Released: December 2017

JUNIOR, 49, in her bedroom in supporting housing she shares with 2 rooommates, 15 months after her release. Bronx, NY (2019) Sentence: 15 years to life. Served: 20 years Released: September 2018

©Sara Bennett, CAROL, 69, in a communal residence four years after her release. Long Island City, NY (2017) Sentence: 25 years to life Served: 35 years Released: March 2013

©Sara Bennett, TOWANDA, 45, in her own apartment five years after her release, with her daughter, Equanni. Bronx, NY (2017) Sentence: 15 years to life Served: almost 23 years Released: October 2012

EVELYN, 42, in an apartment she shares with a roommate five years after her release. Queens, NY (2017) Sentence: 15 years to life Served: 20 years Released: April 2012

©Sara Bennett, AISHA, 45, in a house she shares with 5 other women 14 months after her release. Flushing, NY (2017) Sentence: 25 years to life Served: 25 years Released: June 2016

JUDY, 69. in her own apartment, 5 months after her release. New York, NY (2019) Sentence: 75 years to life Served: 37-1/2 years. Granted clemency by Governor Andrew Cuomo Released: May 2019

LEAH, 45, in her bedroom in her mother’s house, 9 months after her release. Brooklyn, NY (2019) Sentence: 21 years to life. Served: 21 years Released: January 2019

VALERIE, 62 in an apartment she shares with a roommate. Bronx, NY (2018). Sentence: 19 years to life. Served: 17 years (granted clemency by Governor Andrew Cuomo). Released: January 2017

After spending 18 years as a public defender, Sara Bennett turned her attention to photographing women with life sentences, both inside and outside prison. Her work has been widely exhibited and featured in such publications as The New York Times, The New Yorker Photo Booth, and Variety & Rolling Stone’s “American (In)Justice.”

Like the women she photographs, Bennett hopes her work will shed light on the pointlessness of extremely long sentences and arbitrary parole denials. To bring Life After Life in Prison, The Bedroom Project, or Looking Inside to your community, please contact her. IG: @sarabennettbrooklyn