Jane Evelyn Atwood

• Name — Jane Evelyn Atwood • Born — 1947 • Birthplace — New York City, U.S. • Occupation — Photographer

Atwood acquired her first camera in 1975, with which she began to photograph a group of prostitutes in Paris. In 1980, she obtained a grant from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund for a project she had started about blind children. Until then, she had never published a photograph.

In 1989, Atwood photographed women in prison for a ten-year-long photography study. She became inspired to accomplish this project after French prisons first refused her access to the men's quarters because she was a woman. She obtained access to more than 40 prisons, including the toughest prisons in Eastern and Western Europe and in the United States, as well as death row. Too Much Time: Women in Prison is a ten-year photographic documentary study about women's experiences in prison and provides the readers with an exclusive insight on the treatment of inmates in a collection of 150 black and white photographs she took while meeting with prisoners who had agreed to be published in her book. Written between the pictures are the women's stories, presented in Tony Parker's lengthy interview style.

Other themes of Atwood's works include prostitutes in Paris (Rue des Lombards, 1976), blind children, Darfur, and Haiti. Atwood also did a four-year study of destruction caused by landmines in Cambodia, Angola, Kosovo, Mozambique, and Afghanistan (The Increasing Anonymity of the Enemy). In addition, Atwood participated in neo-media projects organized by the French photography institution 24h.com. In 2008, Atwood presented her work at the Rencontres d'Arles festival in France.

• 2011: Photographs 1976-2010, Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris. A retrospective.