Using photos in telling a story

I first met Andy Aitchison in the Autumn of 2025, at the House of Lords. I had been aware of his work for many years, but I watched him carefully move around the room without causing any disturbance, recording an important moment in time. We chatted afterwards and I decided at the next opportunity I would invite him to be interviewed. I wanted it to coincide with the publication of his new book “Incarcerated: Contemporary Photography From The Victorian Prison“

So, on a beautiful summers day I sat with Andy in the garden at Stationers Hall, London to talk about his love of photography, his extraordinary career and his new book.

Can you describe your book in a couple of sentences.

Incarcerated – Contemporary documentary photography from the Victorian prison.  A collection of images and brilliant essays about HMP Liverpool and HMP Lincoln with quotes from the people who live and work there. 

Whose idea was it? / How did you initially collaborate with Dominique, Matt, Yvonne and Jennifer?

Professor Dominique Moran got in touch with me because she was working on a research project about Victorian prisons, she is a Professor of Carceral Geography at Birmingham University who had got this incredible team of professors together to go and spend 3 weeks in each prison researching, I was brought in for the middle week of each visit to make images to illustrate some of the quotes. We had access to every part of the prison and went from the basements up to the roof tops and everywhere in between. I photographed everything I could, Dominique and I had a mutual love of old bricks, and she like me noticed all the little details that you can see in such historic buildings. 

Why photography: lifelong interest?

Photography first came into my life about the age of 10, it was back in the days of film and sending films off to True-print for developing. In my early teens I struggled with school being dyslexic and realising that it could be a career option if I took it a lot more seriously, it was a way of telling stories without writing, making images. It was a way I could travel, meet new people from different walks of life, something where I could go places. So, I left school at the age of 16 and went to college to do photography full time.

Why prison photography: when was the moment you decided to focus on prisons?

My first ever trip into a prison was a visit to HMP Wandsworth, I was photographing a story for the Big Issue magazine about the new radio station there, Radio Wanno.  The moment I walked onto G wing I was blown away, the scale, the architecture, the people, everyone had a story to tell. I spent a morning working with a group of 6 lads who were on the radio course and running the station, we hit it off straight away, I treated them with respect. After that first visit, I knew I had to go back, I ended up going back for day every month for about 6 months, making portraits, visiting their rooms, they all had stories to tell. I still think of them from time to time, wondering where they are now. 

How would you describe what you do as a strapline?

Hmmm, there is a good question. I guess I’m quite known now in the sector as the “Prison Photographer”, I do lots of other photography but it’s an area I’ve become specialist in I guess, I really enjoy going into a prison these days. 

How do you want to be perceived, A photographer, A Prison photographer or something else?

I did a degree in documentary photography, so I guess I think of myself as a documentary photographer who specialises in prisons. Ultimately, I’m just a photographer, whether I’m photographing in someone’s room on a wing in Pentonville or photographing the King at an event in Buckingham palace, I don’t change my approach. 

What do you want to achieve by photographing prisons and those who work and live there?

I really enjoyed telling peoples and organisations stories, there are so many positive things going on in prisons and supporting them to tell their stories and show their good work is something I just want to continue doing as long as I can. I’d love to visit every Victorian prison in the UK, then maybe one day photograph every prison. I’ve been to 46 now so still a long way to go. 

Visiting over 40 prisons gives you a unique insight, how do you process what you see?

I worked it out recently that I’ve spent over 120 days in prison, I feel it’s a real privilege to visit these places now, sometimes there is a lot to process from a day inside and it can take a few days. I find the process of editing the pictures a good way to decompress and understand what is going on inside, it’s a slow process to ensure everything passes the Ministry of Justice security checks but it gives me time to reflect on what I’ve seen. 

You attend many events within the Justice Sector; I have noticed that you are careful to not disturb/disrupt meetings as you go about your work. Have you ever experienced hostility whilst photographing individuals?

I’ve never experienced hostility while photographing in prison, I’ve had a few obscenities shouted at me from cell windows when photographing in an exercise yard but nothing serious. I cover news events from time to time, and I’ve only experienced that sort of thing when covering the far right demos.  

Is there something you would like to photograph?

The Kumbh Mela Festival in India on the River Ganges.

There can be a depth in pictures, I try to portray the atmosphere and smells in my photography, not a flat image.

Photographer Elliot Erwitt wrote:

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place…I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”

This is expressed in my photography, the way I see things, the detail in the layers of paint in a prison cell, the old brass light switches and the worn-down steps. History disguised.

In all my interviews I have the two same questions, what makes you laugh and what makes you cry.

When my Mum was around she would always make me laugh, she was funny and would laugh at silly things, she had one of those infectious laughs that you couldn’t help laughing along with her, she made me laugh so much that I’d get a stitch and end up literally crying with laugher. 

Link to purchase the book:

Available direct from from publisher Bluecoat Press: 

Incarcerated

Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Incarcerated-Andy-Aitchison/dp/1908457996/

All photographs are copyright Andy Aitchison. Used by kind permission.