Last Statement Exhibit Continues

Photographer Barbara Sloan.

The excellent work by premier photographer Barbara Sloan, which was first put on display in 2007, will continue with a new set of subjects in 2011.  One of the Texas Prison Museum’s most popular exhibits, Last Statement is a compassionate look at the victim’s of both sides left behind following an execution.

Several years ago, photographer Barbara Sloan awoke in the middle of the night with a revelation that she must do a photographic essay on Death Row inmates. The next morning, Kelly Prew, an editor for the Huntsville Item, arrived to do a feature story on Sloan's international career as a photographer. The two discussed the Death Row photographic essay and vowed to pursue the project as a team.

"I was born in Huntsville. But only after living in Europe did I realize the city of my birth was internationally famous for Death Row," Sloan said.

"I started thinking about the lives execution leaves behind - the families of both the victims and those of the executed. It really is a moving conversation to talk to a parent, any parent, who has lost a child. Those faces are the ones we hope speak through this project."

The photos on display are archival fiber based gelatin silver prints.

"As I look back over my portfolio of 30 years as a professional photographer, I am proudest of the black and white portraits," Sloan said.

The project is sponsored in part by the Huntsville Arts Commission, city of Huntsville.

Visitors of the Last Statement exhibit.