You are most welcome at the opening of the exhibition Cruel and Unusual on February 17th at 5 pm by Andrea Stultiens in the presence of curators Hester Keijser and Pete Brook.

Worldwide, prisons are ‘home’ to more than 9 million people, and their numbers will only increase over the coming decades. But what do our various societies seek to accomplish by locking up such massive numbers of offenders? From 18 February through 1 April, the Noorderlicht Photogallery presents Cruel and Unusual - revealing and quite unexpected photography dealing with life behind bars. For this exhibition guest curators Hester Keijser and Pete Brook have brought together work by eleven photographers, most of which has never before been shown in Europe.

Photos: Deborah Luster, Yana Payusova

Noorderlicht Photogallery
Akerkhof 12, Groningen
The Netherlands
Wed thru Sun, 12:00 - 18:00h
Free admission

On Saturday, February 18th, from 4 pm, guest curator of Cruel and Unusual, Pete Brook, will present a lecture on his crowdfunded road trip though the USA. The outcome of this experience is to be seen in the exhibition Cruel and Unusual and the special newspaper, published for this event.

During his lecture he will also discuss the role and responsibilities of bloggers in the light of the decline of printed media.

Photo: Lizzie Sadin

Cruel and Unusual is accompanied by a special catalogue in the form of a newspaper. In addition to visual material from the main exhibition, the publication includes articles, blogs, interviews, sketches and supplemental material from photographers Pete Brook met during Prison Photography on the Road.

Have a peak at the newspaper right now! We have published it online for you to read.
From the opening on February 17th, the printed newspaper is available for free in the Photogallery and for sale in our webshop.

Photo: Araminta de Clermont

The main topic of the Noorderlicht International Photofestival 2012 (September 2 through October 7) is landscape as illusion of nature. Professional photographers and curators are welcome to submit their work and/or proposals before March 16th.

Please first read our guidelines for submissions.

Museum Belvédère, main venue Noorderlicht Photofestival 2012