La cosa cambió de color

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project © anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project © anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project View all images ↓
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  • Dates
    2016 - 2024
  • Author
  • Topics Awards
  • Locations Venezuela, Caracas

Photographic archive of the author's experiences as a public employee in the press office of the Ministry for the Venezuelan Penitentiary Service between 2016 and 2021, where he records different realities in various prisons in the country

I've been a graphic designer and documentary photographer for approximately nine years. After completing my internship as a graphic designer, I ended up working in the press office of the Ministry of Penitentiary Services. For my thesis, I created a series of infographics about how the prison model worked, which the state called the new penitentiary regime at the time. The circumstances and context of my environment led me to research and explore the topic.

From my experience as a public employee, I approach the different realities of Venezuelan prisons in my work with a very close eye. This was part of my daily life, and at first, my purpose wasn't to tell a story; I didn't know what the future of these photographs would be. I ended up with a seven-year archive of records, driven by a sense of belonging and the preservation of historical memory. One thing I was clear about was the importance of what was happening around me. Despite this being a topic that has been addressed many times through photography in Venezuela, access to the system is not easy.

During this period, prison in Venezuela has undergone important transformations seeking to achieve a system that is successful in the social reintegration of individuals, but despite the work done, it continues to be the final link in the justice system where violence is the protagonist.

This journey of changes has left traces that allow us to begin to narrate how this process has been in Venezuelan history and this project approaches photography from an aesthetic where color is the protagonist to show realities where the human dignity of the photographed individual stands out despite their conditions of confinement. It is still a historical document to show a little of what happened in the different realities of the lives of the protagonists.

How do they look?

What do they do while they are imprisoned? 

What are their spaces like? 

Are they all treated equally?

If you were in prison, would you have to go through the same thing?

Is what is said about prison just fiction?

The crossed-out words on the inside back cover of the book represent different derogatory terms used to refer to incarcerated people in Latin America. The word "deprived of liberty" is highlighted to refer to these people with human dignity.

I stopped working for the Ministry of Prisons in 2023, but my last visit to a Venezuelan prison was in 2021. After that, I dedicated myself to organizing my archive. I thought for the first time that I had a solid body of work in 2023, when I made a small fanzine. Then in 2024, after various training courses on photobooks, I obtained this model that I propose, which was possible thanks to the mentorships of photographers Santiago Escobar Jaramillo (Colombia) and Luis Cobelo (Venezuela), organized by the Urban Photography Archive, an institution dedicated to the dissemination of photography in Venezuela.


© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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The Craft as a Value of Time - Center for the Formation of New Men, a prison for foreigners in Caracas. 2019. In Venezuela, a progressive reintegration regime has been implemented, providing prisoners with opportunities for study, work, and culture during their sentences.

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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Mérida Prison, Venezuela. 2020. Some inmates make handicrafts, which can be sold by government institutions, with the money going to their families.

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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Working for Redemption - La Azureña Sugar Factory, Táchira. 2019.Under the work programs, prisoners who are close to completing their sentences and are well-behaved can work outside the prisons under surveillance.

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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Overlooking the city - New Man Training Center, prison for foreignersin Caracas. 2019. To facilitate visits and consular procedures, there are exclusive facilities for foreigners, who have the same access as state programs.

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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Classroom at the Carabobo Judicial Boarding School in Venezuela, 2020. The most knowledgeable inmates are in charge of teaching their classmates.

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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Harvests - Women's Annex, Tocuyito Prison, Carabobo. 2016. The work plans also include ensuring that food supplies are self-sustaining in each facility, where possible, and that there are spaces for growing crops and raising animals.

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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National Institute of Female Orientation, Los Teques, Miranda State, Venezuela 2019. Close-order demonstration - pre-military instruction

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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Women's Annex at the Merida State Prison, 2020. Women cry as they receive their release documents after serving their sentences.

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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Gestating in Prison - Women's Annex, Tocuyito Prison, Carabobo. 2016. Access to healthcare is guaranteed for prisoners under the implemented regime. This includes spaces for pregnant women and daycare for children up to age 3. After this age, they cannot remain on the premises and can be sent to relatives or state institutions.

© anthonycamargo7 - National Institute for Women's Orientation (INOF), Los Teques, Miranda. 2019
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National Institute for Women's Orientation (INOF), Los Teques, Miranda. 2019

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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Alegrías - National Institute for Female Orientation (INOF), Los Teques, Miranda. 2019. Farewell after special freedoms were announced for the Christmas season.

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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Diversity - El Rodeo Prison, Guatire, Miranda. 2021. Some facilities have spaces and activities for people from the LGBTIQ+ community, although this is not enough to make them one of the most vulnerable communities in prison.

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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Overcrowding - Police cell in Caracas (CICPC El Rosal). 2019. Despite the regime implemented in state prisons, police cells are decentralized, and each municipality and state in the country must manage them and arrange for their transfer to prisons.In most cases, this is not achieved due to lack of resources and corruption.

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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The Guiding Light - Tocuyito Prison, Carabobo. 2016. Until the end of 2023, it was officially known that a percentage of the prisons were under the control of inmates, not the state. Here, a group of inmates ruled, imposed the rules, and charged the population a maintenance fee. These facilities were well known for their scandals and illicit activities.

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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Tocuyito Prison, Carabobo. 2016. Until the end of 2023, it was officially known that a percentage of the prisons were under the control of inmates, not the state. Here, a group of inmates ruled, imposed the rules, and charged the population a maintenance fee. These facilities were well known for their scandals and illicit activities.

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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Here we play rugby - Hacienda Santa Teresa, El Consejo, Aragua. 2019. Sport plays an important role in reintegration. Civil society plays its part and has initiatives such as the Santa Teresa Foundation's Alcatraz Project, where rugby is the vehicle of transformation necessary to move from the world of darkness to light.

© anthonycamargo7 - I love you, son - Sucre Judicial Detention Center, Sucre. 2020. Person being released with a photograph of his son.
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I love you, son - Sucre Judicial Detention Center, Sucre. 2020. Person being released with a photograph of his son.

© anthonycamargo7 - The book's cover turns it into an object that delves into the narrative by taking the form of a file folder.
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The book's cover turns it into an object that delves into the narrative by taking the form of a file folder.

© anthonycamargo7 - Interior of the model of the book
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Interior of the model of the book

© anthonycamargo7 - Image from the La cosa cambió de color photography project
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The book's layout has eight pages that unfold throughout the volume. There are four sewn booklets, each containing two fold-out pages. Some overlap, while others unfold to one side, as shown in this sample.