Tehachapi, The Yard

In October 2019, JR received permission to work in a maximum-security prison located in Tehachapi, California. During his first visit to the facility, he met with twenty-eight residents and presented an idea for a collaborative artistic project in the central yard. At Tehachapi, the majority of the incarcerated population had been imprisoned for nearly a decade, with many sentenced to life with no chance of parole.

JR and his team photographed the men, one by one, from above. Each participant was then given the chance to record their story. No specific questions were asked; they had the freedom to express themselves openly and candidly. JR also photographed formerly incarcerated individuals and prison staff, collecting a total of forty-eight portraits and stories from the prison system.

Two weeks later, JR returned with his team to paste 338 strips of paper on the ground. In just a few hours, the participants, equipped with push brooms and wallpaper glue, worked alongside guards and members of JR's studio to complete the pasting. 

From the prison yard, the final installation image was indiscernible. Yet, from above, it became clear:  incarcerated people, former inmates, the prison staff, and victims stand shoulder to shoulder. The installation, naturally ephemeral, disappeared in three days under the footsteps of the prison's incarcerated population.

To learn more about the project and listen to all the participants' stories, download the free JR:murals app for iPhone, here, and Android, here.

The project is the subject of an exhibition at Perrotin Paris from August 29 to October 10, 2020.