Draft:In a Whole New Way

In a Whole New Way (film)
Festival poster
Directed by	Jonathan Fisher
Written by	Jonathan Fisher
Produced by	George Carrano
Production company	Seeing for Ourselves
Release date	2021
Country	USA
Language	English

In a Whole New Way (book)

Author	George Carrano and Jonathan Fisher
Publication date	2023
Pages	220
Award	Finalist, 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
ISBN	978-1-632-26117-5

In a Whole New Way is a 2021 film and 2023 book whose common theme lies at the intersection of photography and criminal justice. The film was written and directed by Jonathan Fisher and produced by George Carrano, both of the nonprofit Seeing for Ourselves (SFO).[NW website] The book was edited by Carrano and Fisher. The works celebrate the participatory photography program SFO delivered to clients of the New York City Department of Probation (NYCDOP) and their neighbors during 2018-2021. The purpose of the programming, and therefore of the film and book, was to counter a generation-long scornful media treatment of probation and those immersed in the sanction to encourage reform of the justice intervention where punitive. It was hoped that this would encourage probation to be viewed more widely as an effective alternative to locking people up. A secondary aim was to promote the career prospects of the photographers. Both works hold up NYCDOP as an industry model for returning the practice to its rehabilitative roots.

Reviewers praised the film and book for their insights into the probation experience, the striking dignity of the photographers and their subjects, and the shattering of decades-old stereotypes.

The book back cover indicates that all editor royalties net of project expenses will be donated to the photographers and arts programming serving New Yorkers on probation.

Background

According to the book, the impetus for the programming was the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City pointing SFO to NYCDOP on the heels of the nonprofit's earlier effort in the city's housing projects, which had led to the publication of Project Lives.

Americans on probation outnumber those languishing in jail or prison or out on parole combined, yet few not immersed in the sanction know what it's like. According to the book, this ignorance has allowed demeaning media portrayals to define probation—which SFO programming aimed to counteract.

The new effort won support from the National Endowment for the Arts while Sigma Corporation of America donated cameras. NYCDOP took on SFO's photography instructor to conduct the programming, while Fisher interviewed participants and agency officials for background and Carrano provided overall direction. The program got underway in Brooklyn in 2018. [check transcripts or PQ]

Exhibits

Selected photos were exhibited at shows including the powerHouse Arena, the Hunter East Harlem Gallery, Denise Bibro Fine Art, the Islip Arts Center, and Thomas Memorial Library in Cape Elizabeth, Maine; this last including a virtual screening of the film along with a panel discussion.

Photographers

The film features photos by 37 different photographers, amounting to 64 photographs altogether, along with 32 unattributed photos. Twenty-two different photographers have speaking roles. In particular, Tavel, Eric, and Leo attested to the life-changing nature of the program. "It made me a new man. The man I wanted to be," affirmed Eric. Meanwhile, the book includes photos by 32 different photographers, amounting to 61 photos altogether, along with 60 smaller unattributed works.

Photographs

The film and book mostly contain positive imagery of everyday life, although there are photos of a police presence and interpersonal conflict. Photographs of the probation process are featured in both works. Fisher explains, "The participants were reluctant to focus on this, but agreed when it was pointed out that SFO's literary agent insisted on a physical correlative in the manner of Project Lives."

Filmmakers/Editors

Carrano and Fisher had previously edited Project Lives to celebrate the programming delivered to residents of New York City public housing, for whom Fisher worked at the New York City Housing Authority. In that work, they describe themselves as native New Yorkers who had enjoyed careers with New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority before Carrano founded SFO in 2010. Fisher has reported that as they had no experience in or knowledge of criminal justice, their new initiative would face a steep learning curve. Fisher has also stated that before writing and directing the film, he had never made a movie.

Composition and publication

After opening titles and a preview of the theme, the thirty-one-minute film provides background about probation's origins and then delves into current practice around the nation. It then introduces several program participants and explains New York City practice in particular, before charting the evolution of probation from its founding to the present day, highlighting its departure from its rehabilitative roots during the 1972-92 crime wave and how media portrayals discouraged reforms. After introducing the photography program as a response to this treatment by the media, there is a flashback to the earlier program conducted in the city's housing projects, which proved the efficacy of the program. The film then focuses on the current photography program, breaking at critical points to show examples of the media portrayals the program was up against and a city council hearing about the program. The film concludes with an array of the program photography, set to the music of Tash Sultana's 2016 hit "Jungle."

The book intersperses the photography with a backstory about probation and NYCDOP in particular. Sixteen of the photographers provide artistic statements with autobiographical details. The book devotes a chapter to the stigma suffered by probation at the hands of the media. The road to reform is covered along with current NYC practice. After paying attention to the gallery exhibits and media reception of the program, the book discusses the stakes in the program's attempt at reform and answers to the questions raised. As in Project Lives, a specter is said to haunt reform; while the intentional implosion of the Pruitt-Igoe housing development in St. Louis in 1972 fills the role in the earlier book, the 1988 Willie Horton TV ad forms the specter haunting criminal justice reform in this book. The book was published by Prospecta Press on June 20, 2023. Blurbs were supplied by Noam Chomsky; Megan Quattlenaum, director of The Council of State Governments Justice Center; Steve Woolworth, Past President of the International Community Justice Association; and Linda Connelly, president and CEO of the company Successful Reentry, along with a favorable quote from the Denise Bibro Fine Art gallery in NYC.

Reception

The film In a Whole New Way has won many awards. The Palo Alto Weekly termed it "a pioneering path to criminal justice reform." Meanwhile, the book In a Whole New Way placed as a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. The nonprofit's programming and outputs, including the film and/or book, were favorably covered by a number of media outlets. [those on probation site] All media coverage was positive, with most featuring interviews with Fisher about how the program began, what the workshops were like, and what the nonprofit hoped to achieve.

Impact

The film was screened in a workshop at the annual conference of the American Probation and Parole Association in 2022 [APPA site] as well as a plenary session of the 2023 annual conference. Community corrections officials from around the country attend these conferences. It was reported by NYCDOP officials in a panel around the 2023 screening that the programming resulted in teaching gigs, paid photo shoots, and photograph sales. [New Way site or Vimeo of the film] Along with stipends paid by NYC in the interest of job readiness, these rewards charted a path out of justice involvement going forward. [Probation Quarterly] The result of all this in NYC was less crime. [New Way site], but it is not known if the initiative has catalyzed reforms elsewhere as intended.

Still, with Fisher invited to contribute articles about the initiative to both Perspectives, the American community corrections journal [if out] and Probation Quarterly [PQ site], the UK community corrections periodical, at the end of 2024, the impacts may still lie ahead.