Page 66 - Demo

64%u201cOld Sparky%u201d ynn and I usually travel together on photo shoots. However, I happened to be alone on the day Idrove through the entrance gate of the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. Pulling up to the guard house, I told the officer in charge that I was to meet Pam James. Nodding, he wrote down my name and license-plate number, then pointed me to a parking spot near the front of the Administration Building. %u201cBe sure to lock your car,%u201d he added. %u201cRight%u201d, I thought to myself, %u201cthis is a place where locks are important.%u201dAs soon as I entered the four-story, brick-and-limestone building, I saw an officer posted at a security desk next to a walk-through metal detector. As I approached, before I could say anything, she asked, %u201cAre you Mr. Bower?%u201d No secrets here. %u201cYes,%u201d I answered. With that, she rang Ms. James, to inform her of my arrival, then told me she%u2019d be right down.A minute or two later, Pam, an Administrative Services Officer, greeted me with a smile, then led me upstairs to the prison%u2019s Indiana Room. After she unlocked the door, I stepped inside, and immediately saw the very object I%u2019d come to photograph%u2014Indiana%u2019s electric chair. Standing in front of it, I said to Pam, %u201cWow, this is really an intimidating piece of equipment.%u201d She agreed.Like everything in this facility, the chair was secured behind a barrier, in this case a Plexiglas display box. I knew at once it would be difficult to photograph. With light coming through the windows, and from the overhead fluorescent fixtures, there were dozens of reflections playing across the slick acrylic surface. Pam turned off the overhead lights, but it didn%u2019t help much. There was simply no way I%u2019d be able to get an overall %u201cportrait%u201d of the entire chair. Close-up details would have to do. As I shot from several different angles, I examined the chair carefully. It was constructed of worn, dark wood that had been carefully crafted, with dovetail joints used in some places. (A small sign explained that the wood had been salvaged from Indiana%u2019s old gallows.) There were also metal clamps and worn leather straps to firmly hold the prisoner%u2019s arms and legs in place. The most fascinating thing to me was the thinly padded upholstery, as if comfort had been an important consideration in its design. Overall, it was an eerie combination of antique, mundane, and grizzly.When I had finished shooting, Pam gave me a tour of the rest of the room. Hanging on the walls were rows of framed photographs%u2014a gallery of all the prison%u2019s wardens, and of prisoners participating in various activities, including football. Only a single photo showed inmates in the classic, old-style, black-and-white stripes. In addition, there was an interesting selection of antique locks and other prison memorabilia.Before leaving, Pam and I walked to her office (which was locked, naturally). She wanted me to have a photograph of the chair before it had become a museum piece (above). As I looked at the image, I thought about what a unique, historical artifact it was%u2014first used 1914 and lastly in 1994, it had administered Indiana%u2019s ultimate sentence a total of 62 times.Vintage photograph,courtesy Indiana State PrisonL