Jordan Roth

In September 2018 I curated a container exhibit of Shiho Fukada's work for the Pulitzer Center at Photoville. Photoville is a festival of photo exhibits built within shipping containers. The photographs focused on elderly women in Japanese prisons - a part of her project, "Nowhere Left But Here."

Japan, with the world’s oldest population, has been dealing with a challenge it didn’t foresee: senior crime. Complaints and arrests involving elderly people, and women in particular, are taking place at rates above those of any other demographic group. Almost 1 in 5 women in Japanese prisons is a senior. Most are in prison for shoplifting; some because they had no other option for survival and some took the opportunity in order to go to prison - for a room, warm meals, and company. Loneliness drives many of these women desire to find stability and a community, that prison can provide them. This exhibition explores these women’s stories and the choices they have had to make.

I worked with Shiho to create an exhibition that would emulate a cell - the shipping container worked well for that. Close quarters painted pink, the same color of their prison uniforms, Shiho and I wanted people to feel as though they were walking through the prison. I thought including items that the women had stolen would give context to the situation. A bag of rice, a book, a bottle of coke - many everyday things. I worked with Shiho on selecting images and items (she brought the items from Japan when she came to Photoville).

In 2017, I curated a container exhibit including work from TIME's Finding Home. Journalists Lynsey Addario, Aryn Baker, and Francesca Trianni tell the story of three pregnant mothers and their families in the midst of the refugee crisis. In addition to the images and video, I collected household items to replicate what the inside of refugee tent could possibly look like.

I also exhibited TIME's Finding Home during FotoWeekDC. The space was different from the Photoville container, so I had to rethink some of the exhibit components. I got the photos printed on lighter paper and hung them from the ceiling. The space felt open, so I wanted to give people the opportunity to walk in between photos and really interact with the stories. FotoWeekDC is a photo festival celebrating work across Washington, DC.