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Main | Portrait Series |
First Place
Donald Weber
Freelance

"INTERROGATIONS"

Second Place
Marco Grob
for TIME Magazine

"BEYOND 9/11: PORTRAITS OF RESILIENCE"

Third Place
Liu Jie
Xinhua News Agency

"THE LEFT-BEHIND FAMILY"

Award of Excellence
Eduardo Castaldo
Freelance

"SHOUTING OUT, DIGNITY REGAINED"

First Place
Donald Weber
Freelance


"INTERROGATIONS"

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Without confessions and guilty pleas, courts everywhere would grind to a halt in an instant; over 90% of all charges in the Russian judicial system end in guilty pleas, and only experienced criminals or highly-educated defendants stand a chance in any justice system. It is not designed to give everyone a fair trial; this is what the cops are doing behind their closed doors— the feudal system’s trial by ordeal is still much with us. Trial by ordeal – that is what is going on here, but closed to the public now.

Each suspect is given space equal to the space of their interrogation room. That is, this piece stays fixed within the confines of the Interrogation Room, describing the people who enter it and leave it, their histories their drama. Young and old, male and female, weak unfortunates and hardened criminals, all.