Photographer Debi Cornwall has some fascinating shots of Guantanamo Bay, present day. Her work focuses on the strange mixture of idyllic landscapes, high-stress military structures, and the day-to-day boredom and unbreakable routine that color the hours for the personnel at Gitmo. In 2004, photographs of cowed Guantanamo prisoners in orange jump suits shocked the world. A decade later, artist Debi Cornwall brought us a different perspective.
"I wanted to look at this all-American place and ask if this is who we want to be... Is America at its best in this place?" (Debi Cornwall)
Everything is in place, there is no walking outside the lines... It struck me as a study in contradictions. On the one hand, you have this tropical paradise and architecture emphasizing how we’re in this tropical place in a surreal way. On the other hand, you have the routine, the utter boredom, drab cement and aluminum siding. Both are coexisting, which reflects the two very different kinds of lives there: those of the guards and those of the prisoners. - (Debbi Cornwall)
Cornwall has three instillations from her visits to Guantanamo: "Gitmo at Home, Gitmo at Play," “Gitmo for Sale” (a look at items available at the Guantanamo Bay gift shop), and coming soon, "Beyond Gitmo."
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