The prisoners that still haunt Alcatraz, their faces and stories

If you think just being in prison is hell, consider growing old and infirm while incarcerated.

That’s the focus of an exhibition called “Prisoners of Age” at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. It debuted at the former federal-penitentiary-turned-historic-site more than a decade ago and returned this past July with new photos.

The show pairs photos by Ron Levine with words taken from interviews with elderly inmates in the U.S. and Canada.

The inmates’ faces that stare out from the 4-by-8-foot panels are old, and the circumstances of their crimes committed much earlier in their lives are revealed. There also are photos and stories from prison guards and officials.

Though focusing on individual stories, the exhibition underlines the bigger issue of how society will handle the needs of a booming geriatric prison population.

Between 2007 and 2010, the number of state and federal prisoners 65 and older in the U.S. grew at 94 times the rate of the overall prison population, according to Human Rights Watch.

The exhibition of 60 panels displayed in “Prisoners,” designed by Michael Wou and Russell Volckmann, was set to close in December. Now it has been extended until next June.

It’s open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily in the New Industries Building at Alcatraz.

Tickets to Alcatraz cost $31 to $38 for adults and $19.25 to $22.75 for children 5 to 11 years old. You may buy tickets online or by phone; advance reservations are recommended.

Info: Alcatraz Cruises, (415) 981-7625

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