Pentridge

Within the forgotten and decaying walls of this once shining fortress, fifteen people return to their memories and to Pentridge Prison to bear witness to its end and to be photographed amongst the decay as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. This priceless work is an attempt to hear the voices of those who lived and worked at Pentridge, now the only ones who can tell the table before the site is redeveloped and its history is buried.Pentridge was, for 146 years, an integral if unwanted part of Melbourne's identity. In its cells, corridors and halls can be found the remnants of an endless litany of love, hate, loss, friendship and conflict, political dealings and petty squabbles. Interested in how we use, bury and celebrate the past, Rupert Mann chronicles the life messily split between gaoler and prisoner by bluestone and iron. This is their collective story.