Eastern State Penitentiary

Where penitence was the order of the day; primarily, in the early 1800's, by as absolute an environment of sensory deprivation as possible. If you weren't insane when you entered, you often were when you left.










By Al Capone's day the sensory-deprivation thing had given way to simple incarceration; still, Capone got somewhat "different" treatment. According to the guide, Capone's cell often remained unlocked during the day.

Al Capone's cell:




Despite the current state of the place, during operation it was actually quite clean and kept in excellent repair. Many amenities unavailable to the common population of the early 19th century were incorporated in this facility; indoor plumbing, showers, decent food, etc. While the practice of sensory deprivation as a redemptive process (intended to encourage reflection upon one's crimes, the only book allowed was the bible) was later abandoned because of its destructive psychological effects (and the need to house more prisoners) it did have one unintended benefit: the epidemics which swept away so many lives in early American cities were unable to spread widely within Eastern State Penitentiary, as prisoners were housed in isolation.

you captured the desolation and the deterioration perfectly.

WOW

They also hold one of the best Halloween parties in one of the cellblocks, according to my daughter.

Just checked their website, I guess you took the Winter Adventure Tour. Did you pay the extra to carry a tripod, or were these handheld?

rather than the tripod. I explained that it would be different than the issues common to tripod usage, but they refused to hear it. So, all handheld, which made for a need for sharpening in processing which was not exactly satisfactory; too much in a couple, not enough in the b&w shot.

They wanted ten bucks to use either the monopod or tripod (a one-time payment for the year) but I will probably only be back there one more time, in March, when I will be helping move my daughter out to UCSD. That will make for a nice road trip. :)

And as to Mr. Capone's cell, if I had to be locked up, I'd want my crib to look like that.