Photo by Lucinda Devlin; The Omega Suites series, 1991. (Click to enlarge)
Pictured above is an electric chair at Greensville Correctional Facility in Jarratt, Virginia, photographed by Lucinda Devlin in the early 1990s. According to Forward Thinking Museum, “Devlin belongs to that generation of American photographers who pioneered the fine art of color photography. Her work is noted for the attention given to composition, the balance between delicate light and intense color, and for the focus on the specific themes she chooses to photograph.” Artspeak aside, Devlin’s series The Omega Suites, which goes behind the curtain at a collection of U.S. penitentiaries, provides an ominous inside look at the organized practice of state-sanctioned execution:
Between 1991 and 1998 Lucinda Devlin photographed in penitentiaries in twenty states, with the permission and cooperation of the local authorities. She called the resulting series The Omega Suites, alluding to the final letter of the Greek alphabet as a metaphor for the finality of execution. The series includes thirty chilling color photographs of execution chambers and associated spaces, such as holding cells and viewing rooms. With over 3000 inmates on death row and 70 percent of US citizens supporting the death penalty, The Omega Suites brings focus to one of the great ethical questions facing contemporary Americans, about which public opinion continues to be passionate. (Source)
Devlin’s book chronicling the decade-long project was published in 2003, and is available for purchase through Steidl.
Lethal injection chamber, Nevada State Prison, 1991. (Click to enlarge)
"Yellow Mama" electric chair, Atmore, Alabama, 1991. (Click to enlarge)
(h/t: Melisaki: Pulse Pause Repeat)
