Inmate, Medium Security Dormitory, Cañon City

A black and white photograph of an African-American inmate in cell with personal belongings. He is sitting on his bed practicing the guitar. Behind him on a table, there's a sculpture of a black panther and a coffee cup. Above that on the wall there's a painted picture of American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery.

From "The Joint" Collection photographed at the Colorado State Penitentiary in 1974.

The Joint is inmate slang for prison. In December 1974 I was granted unlimited access to the Maximum and Medium Security Prisons at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canon City to shoot this documentary.