“Most of my photography time,” writes Morrie Camhi, “isn’t with a camera but with a cup of coffee, learning about the people I will photograph.” Camhi’s book, The Prison Experience, is a photographic record of the eighteen months he spent documenting life at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, overcrowded home to eight thousand convicted felons. Despite its name, only a small percentage of the prison’s inmates are there for medical reasons; both Sirhan Sirhan and Charles Manson did time at Vacaville.
Camhi was allowed to move unescorted inside the prison. He stresses that his photographs are not candid; he met with some prisoners on dozens of occasions before he took out his camera. “So these are ‘considered’ photographs,” he writes, “a result of our experience of each other.” As the book demonstrates, Camhi developed an empathy with his subjects that allowed him to render an unflinching look into their world.
The statements accompanying the photographs arose in response to a single question Camhi put to prisoners: “What do you want people to know about the prison experience?” While Camhi struggled to include the various prison subcultures, there is one noticeable exclusion: convicts refused to appear in a book that contained photographs of child molesters (“chesters”), who are universally despised by other prisoners.
At times, Camhi’s experience proved harrowing: “I was born and raised on the streets of New York,” he recounts in an interview that appeared in Frisko magazine, “and there was a whole kind of street behavior that was very ingrained. I found myself going right back to it once I got to prison. On the first day, I walked in with my cameras alone, and this big prisoner came up to me and demanded, ‘Give me that watch.’ Without even batting an eye, without realizing what I was saying, I said, ‘It’s going to take two like you to get it.’ ”
Camhi, a former photography instructor at San Francisco City College, calls himself an “environmental portrait photographer.” He admits that this book is “an obsession.” Unfortunately, it has seen only limited distribution due to the unease of several national bookstore chains over its raw, explicit character. Camhi now devotes his time to getting the book into as many hands as possible.
As the book amply attests, there is both horror and humor in prison, long periods of desperation coupled with moments of sudden tenderness. Camhi hopes to counter the B-movie stereotyping that so dominates our understanding of prison life. Prisoners, insists Camhi, “are as complex and variable as the individuals of ‘free’ society.” Surely the rising rate of incarceration stems in part from our tendency to lump all those incarcerated into a single group (the criminal element). In this way, we efface whatever differences exist among them, and render them all the “same”; from here, we accede quite readily to the conclusion that they are less deserving of our respect as humans — indeed, that they are less than human.
— T.L. Toma
The photographs from this selection are available as a PDF only. Click here to download.
Composite Statement: Kelly Crowe, Michael Warren
Doing time is extremely difficult. I spend most of my free time (that is, when I’m not working at my institutional assignment) sitting around with one or two of my homeboys, rolling and smoking cigs and talking about the streets. (The funny thing is, I don’t even smoke when I’m out on the streets!) But in here, smoking seems to be one of the common bonds that brings the fellas together. Good conversation almost always follows.
If you haven’t been locked up, don’t ever let the state gain control of your life. You’ll pay hell to get them off you.
Lester Slusher
Through all the years I’ve spent in prison and all the people I’ve met, not one person was here for being convicted of polluting. That’s a crime directly connected with millions of deaths, birth defects, and disabling illnesses! I’m glad I’m just a burglar!
Kenneth X. White
To all that are receptive enough to face the fact that America is a prison, the big prison, this will enable the masses to perceive better the plight and/or condition of all those held captive in solitary confinement. It is time the people know that until the philosophy that holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, the ignorant are imprisoned. Until there’s no more first-class and second-class citizenship in the United States, until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes, the ignorant masses shall remain imprisoned. Until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race, the ignorant masses will remain imprisoned. Until that day the dream of lasting peace for world citizenship and the rule of international morality shall remain an ever-fleeting illusion to be pursued but never attained. Everywhere the ignorant masses shall remain imprisoned. This unjust, malicious experience has enlightened me over the years. Therefore, I am not serving time. Time is serving me.
Stanley Thomas, “Brandy”
I feel like a piece of cake without the icing. But I tell myself “I’m going to make it” over and over again. Staff harasses feminine black homosexuals for the clothing we choose to wear. They treat us like animals and their talk is crazy and ignorant.
I’ve learned to overlook some past realities. To survive, I also have to overlook some now realities, too. It is happening to me now.
Composite Statement: Rick Bullard, Louie Molles, Rick Tilmon, Timothy Williams
It doesn’t get much better — if the judge could see me now! But the food sucks! They don’t feed ya enough to sponsor a fart. It’s not all fun and games but you try and look at it that way in order to take the edge off of things. It’s the classical paradox of doing time.
Richard Lee Dodgin
First of all, you have to understand that I’m against law and everything and everyone that is connected with it. The prison system makes me sick. Say you were just sentenced to three years. You have one of two choices. First choice is not a damned thing, so you’ll do all your time, or you can work and earn your “day for day.” That way you can cut your time in half! What my point is — when you’re in the system you work to get out. You put up with all the petty shit that goes with it. If you don’t believe me, take a chance. The bunk next to me is open.
Michael Wells
What is prison? It’s every nightmare you had as a child. It’s finding out what hell is without dying. It’s watching youngsters trying to be men. And men trying to be men. It’s seeing a sunrise and thanking God that you made it through another day. It’s cursing society for placing us in a flesh warehouse they call prison. Overcrowded, TVs blasting, and lights on till all hours of the night. It’s a thousand tears and cries in a lonely bed late at night. It’s wishing desperately you had a group or counselor to talk to, searching for the real reason you’re locked away. It’s looking in the mirror and seeing yourself growing older, faster. It’s watching someone die over drugs, sex, or just a dirty name. It’s having your heart ripped out by a loved one who fails to see the importance of writing as often as you wish. Or those that stop altogether. It’s having the phone ring off the wall when she knew you were going to call. It’s the feeling of loneliness, even with a thousand other guys right next to you.
The Convict’s Dictionary
These selections are from “The Convict’s Dictionary,” compiled by James Harris, an inmate at Vacaville. A broad, racially diverse group of prisoners reviewed the entries; though sometimes graphic, they reveal much about prison life.
Harris was recently paroled after serving an eighteen-year sentence for murder.
— Ed.
all day
Usually a life sentence. “George is doing all day here.”
baseball
Homosexual activity of “pitching” (male role) and “catching” (female role).
blanket party
A beating administered to an inmate by first throwing a blanket over him so that he can’t identify the people involved.
bolts
White-pride symbol of power; lightning bolts tattooed on the body for all to see. Also, an artful modification of German SS insignia that resembles lightning bolts.
bomb
Toilet paper made into the shape of a cone then set afire and used to heat coffee. Mostly done in jails or prisons where hot water is almost inaccessible.
bone crusher
Prison-made weapon twelve inches or more in length. Made to go through any bones it may hit. Sometimes it is oddly proportioned in order to do damage.
bone yard
A seventy-two-hour visit with our wives and families.
bonnaroo
Dressed up in the best state clothes, made to look sharp, impeccable grooming.
book a party of two
Asking a homosexual to orally copulate two people.
border brother
Latin American from south of the border, usually from Mexico.
bucket
A lockup unit, the hole, segregation from everyone.
Buck Rogers date
A very far-off release date.
buff
Working out with weights. “I got a good buff in today” means I had a good workout.
bullet
A period of one year left. “I hear you only have a bullet left.”
burglarizing
Listening in on another’s private conversation. “Hey, man, quit burglarizing our conversation!”
burn coal
To have sex with a black.
busting slob
Kissing. Also called “swapping spit.”
Cadillac
A cup of coffee with cream and sugar, or coffee with everything in it. Also used to refer to the maximum purchase amount at the prison canteen (“a Cadillac draw” for a month is $140). The best of the best.
Cadillac bunk
A single bunk. In a dorm setting, most bunks are doubled. The single bunks are “Cadillac,” best in the house and all to yourself.
cap
The amount of marijuana that fits into a Chapstick cap. A cap is currently sold for one “box” (a carton of cigarettes).
car
A group or clique that works together for common goals.
carp/toad/hambone
What some whites call blacks.
caviar/cavvy
A joint of grass laced with cocaine.
CDC 115
A California Department of Corrections rule violation report. People are found guilty no matter what the circumstances, and the prisoner loses from 30 to 180 days of time. A kangaroo court, railroading.
chasing the dragon
Chasing drugs to get high.
chester
A child molester, considered the worst crime.
citizen
A good guy. Knows what to do and does it.
closed car
Select few, handpicked.
close-to-the-door
Very little time left before release.
con
Sleaze, someone who is institutionalized and preys on the weak; can also be short for convict.
convict
Stand-up guy, older timer, someone who understands and believes in the code of ethics, hard-core supporter of those ethics.
cross
Trouble, confrontation with someone. You’ve done something wrong and suddenly find that you have put yourself or somebody else in a jam.
dance in the rain room
Take a shower.
date
The date you will be released from prison.
drop a dime
Telling on someone, giving them up so they get busted, ratting. “That punk over there dropped a dime on you about last night’s fight.” The expression comes from the days when a phone call cost a dime.
ducats
A substitute for money used at the canteen. If you get money in your trust account from the “streets” (or from your assigned prison job), then you fill out a canteen draw slip that states how much money you want to transfer to the canteen. Ducats of a different kind are used as “admission tickets” to various places in the institution. There are job ducats, classification ducats, sick-call ducats, and many others. They are used to account for almost all movement in the institution.
duck
Someone who goes for anything, naive, goes for the same thing over and over again.
dump truck
Someone who intentionally does not hold up his end.
featherwood
White girl, one who will stay with you, take care of business.
fee-fee bag/foo-foo bag
A bag (or equivalent) you jack off in.
fish
Someone who is new to the prison system, just starting to do his time.
fish line
A string used to pull things from one cell to another. “Hey bro, send me some tailor-mades!” “OK, but send me down a fish line” means send me down a string and I’ll tie a pack of Camels to it so that you can pull them up.
flagging
A language of color and color placement. For instance, a bandanna in the back pocket “flags” belonging; a bandanna on the shoulder is a sign of open disrespect; a flag on the forehead is a sign of battle dress.
flip flopping
When one punk plays the man role during sex, then flips over and the other one plays the man.
Front Street
Bringing unnecessary attention to another. “Homeboy, you just fronted me off in front of the Man by saying that in his presence.” Being put on “Front Street.”
George/Tom
Expressions that deal with the quality of an experience. Real “George” coffee is very good; real “Tom” coffee isn’t fit to drink. Anything no good can be “Tom.”
good wood
Solid white boy, stand-up dude.
gooner
Special squad, prison task force.
guard
Extremist, polished corrections officer who wears all the accessories that can be obtained from a uniform shop.
gun
A tattoo gun. Also a syringe.
guns
Upper portions of arms, weight lifting.
high siding
Showing off. Letting everyone know that you are doing all right. “I see that your homeboy is high siding again about his package from home” means he is showing off everything from his package: clothes, food, etc., making others feel bad because they don’t have anything.
hog
Tough guy, leader. Also (positive) refers to being a hog on the weight pile, lifting a lot of weight.
hold court/hold court in the streets
When a man knows that if he is taken alive, he will never get out of prison, he decides to “hold court.” That is, he will do whatever it takes to get away from the cops, or die trying.
homes
General greeting, used instead of “hi” or “pal.”
hook
A black term that is the same as a want-to-be. A fake or phony, playing the part.
hump/lemac
Camel cigarettes. Hump for the one on the Camel’s back; lemac is camel spelled backward. Camels are the preferred cigarette, a kind of monetary standard. Debts are paid in Camel cigarettes.
in the blind
An area that the cops cannot see. It can be used for fights, drug deals, or any activity you don’t want observed.
J-cat
Someone CDC puts in category J, meaning nuts or crazy. Also used for people who seem a little weird.
Jim Jones juice
Kool-Aid. Medicine is sometimes delivered in Kool-Aid to prisoners resisting medication.
jingles
Pocket money. Actual money is contraband but if an inmate has ducats on him he might say, “I’ve got jingles for zoo-zoos and wham-whams,” meaning he’s got ducats and let’s go buy some ice cream or soda.
keister/hoop
Hiding or stashing contraband in your butt. Sometimes drugs, money, even weapons have been smuggled back and forth this way. “He’s gone to the hoop with it.”
kick game
Black term, rapping to each other, a serious conversation.
kite
A note, our way of communicating to each other or to the street. It is folded like a stored flag.
kneepads
The actions of a kiss-ass, or someone always around the Man. “That guy must have kneepads to get all those favors!”
locker thief
Someone who steals from other prisoners’ lockers. This is one of the worst crimes you can commit. If caught by any inmate, even the guards will look away so the inmate can beat the guy, as long as he doesn’t kill him.
lopp, lame
Unschooled, fish, newcomer to the system. Someone who never learns.
Man walking
An expression used to warn others that a cop is coming close to a certain area.
Mothers Day
The day that welfare checks are passed out. Each month on the first and fifteenth all welfare mothers receive their checks and are able to visit their men in prison. Most of these women live from check to check.
on my skin
Whites swearing their word on the color of their skin. Sacred oath.
on the leg
Someone who spends time with the staff to cultivate influence.
on the natch
The size of muscles at their natural extension without exaggeration by flexing or manipulation.
peckerwood
White boys, one of the guys. Used only to refer to whites.
peel your cap
Beating someone to the point where he loses skin or receives abrasions or contusions. “I’m going to peel your cap.”
pipehype
Someone who has a psychological addiction for orally copulating with other male prisoners.
plex
Being on the defensive. A complex. “What did he say to make you plex that way?”
prison
Old term for San Quentin, Folsom, Soledad; hard-core joints.
program
How you do your time. You can work, take a group counseling program, get involved in one of the outside programs such as AA, NA, or Jaycees. The ones who don’t do any kind of program, not even vocational training, are called “yard bums.”
pruno
Our version of booze. Made from various food items such as tomato puree, citrus fruits, potatoes, or rice. They are mixed with sugar and either a dough ball or yeast, if you can steal it out of the kitchen. It sits for three days for fermentation.
punk
Someone who has been turned out and made to like it. A homosexual.
quarter
A twenty-five-pound plate of weight used in the weight pile.
rabbit blood
Someone who will run off when given the chance.
road dog/dog
A partner or close friend; someone you care for and can count on; someone you can share with or “run” with. Really close road dogs call each other “pup.”
rolled up
Someone taken off the yard, out of their cell or housing unit and moved to another yard, prison, or lockup — either at one’s own request, out of fear, or for doing something wrong.
rollie
A rolled tobacco cigarette. Most inmates can’t afford tailor-made cigarettes so they have to smoke bulk tobacco such as Bugler brand, or a low-grade state-issue tobacco.
saddle tramp/scooter trash
A biker or someone living a biker’s lifestyle. As used by bikers, these expressions are positive.
screamin’
Top of the line, the best of the best, so good you can hardly stand it. “The cup of coffee was screamin’. ”
she’s fired
An expression used to describe the breakup of a romantic relationship.
side buster
Black expression. A fake, a person full of shit. All talk, no performance.
skin
A term used by Indians to refer to other Indians.
sleeved
Tattoos that concentrate on the arms.
smut
If someone has smut on them it means they are seen in a bad light, shouldn’t be trusted.
soldier
A loyal member or follower who takes care of business. Someone who has proven himself: a stand-up person.
spread your hustle
When someone’s mooching gets unbearable and they are sent off to mooch elsewhere. “Why don’t you spread your hustle, man?”
spun
Someone who is out to lunch or mentally gone due to drugs or for whatever reason. Other expressions are “slipping gears” or “half a bubble off” (as in a serious imbalance indicated by a carpenter’s spirit level).
stay hard as a white oak tree
To stay solid, not waver, willing and able to stand alone.
stinger
The ends of live electrical wire are attached to a small metal plate to create a “stinger.” The stinger is used to heat water for a fix of coffee. Mainly used in prisons that don’t have hot water in cells.
stole on
Someone who sneaks up from behind and hits his victim.
strip-search
This is probably the most degrading experience in prison. It is constantly done to each inmate as custody sees fit. You may have a job in an area that requires you to be strip-searched every day, or you could be pulled in by custody and strip-searched at random. Every time you come back from a visit with your wife, family, or friends you are strip-searched. You take all your clothes off and stand before the guard, then lift your arms and turn them around to show that you have nothing on or around them. Then you bend forward and run your hands through your hair to show that you aren’t hiding anything in there. You then stand up straight and lift your genitals to show that you don’t have anything taped or hidden around them. Then you turn around and bend over and spread the cheeks of your ass so he can get a good look up your asshole to make sure you haven’t hidden anything in or around it. Oh yes, when you are bent over you have to cough. Don’t ask me why. With your back still to the guard you lift each foot to show that you haven’t hidden anything in there either. You have to open your mouth and move your tongue around so he can see that there isn’t anything under it.
tacked back
Someone who is covered with tattoos.
take it to the vent
Suicide.
talking out the side of your neck
Someone who is full of bullshit and just doesn’t know what he is talking about.
tar/stuff/smack/gum/goma/downtown/mexican mud
Heroin.
till the wheels fall off
An expression of closeness and loyalty to a friend or group. The reference to wheels comes from the fact that we refer to the groups we hang out with as “cars.” “He’s in my car till the wheels fall off” means that he’s with me till the absolute end of the line. When the wheels fall off a car it can’t run.
to the curb
Being down on luck, in the middle of bad times. A person who can’t go on or is out of funds.
tree jumper
Someone who rapes repeatedly.
turnkey
A cop that doesn’t care about anything except doing his eight hours, just there to open doors.
tweek
Someone who has been up too long on speed or crank and is buzzing around and can’t keep still, seeing things, withdrawn.
want-to-be
A white term for someone trying to be something he’s not, just to belong.
War Department
Our wives or girlfriends; an endearment.
whammer
A penis.
wino time
A short time left on your sentence. “Winos” were only in jail for a short time and then released. “Hey, bro, how much time do you have left?” “Homeboy, all I have is wino time. I’m too short to even start a conversation.”
woodpile
Where the white boys work out. “I’ll be at the woodpile after lunch.”
yard bum/vagabond/curb creature/shoe boy
Someone who doesn’t want to program. In fact, all he wants to do is stay on the yard, sleep in his bunk, and beg for everything he needs.
yoke up
Coming up from behind someone, putting an arm around his neck, and stabbing him repeatedly. “The only way they could have gotten him is to have yoked him up.”
you are burnt, punk
Telling someone, in effect, that they are paid. If someone knows that another is weak or won’t fight for what he has coming, then he tells him the account is squared. “You are burnt, punk!” This is usually done by sleazes, dope fiends, or other low-life. Prison is a place where you live by your word. If you go around burning others then people won’t trust you anymore . . . or you may not be alive to burn again.
zoo-zoos and wham whams
Candy, junk food, sweet food items, plus sodas.
Our thanks to Camhi’s publisher, the Charles E. Tuttle Company, for permission to reprint the photographs as well as excerpts from “A Convict’s Dictionary.” A special thanks to R.P. Boye of Frisko magazine for a fine piece on Camhi. Signed copies of The Prison Experience can be ordered for $34.95, postpaid, from The Popular Edition Series, P.O. Box 751374, Petaluma, CA 94975-1374.
— T.L. Toma
