Jan Banning: Low and Order

Law & Order is a photo project that compares the criminal justice system in four different countries on four continents: Colombia (South-America), France (Europe), Uganda (Africa) and the United States (North-America). It combines an artistic view with a documentary approach and sheds light on the key institutions within the criminal justice system: the police, the courts and prisons. Thanks to the avoidance of visual clichés – hands gripping prison bars, humbly bowed, seated prisoners and the like – that do little other than confirm the existing image, it can contribute to the international debate on criminal law. It raises questions such as: how do we deal with criminals? What is the relationship between punishment and crime? Is confinement, besides being an instrument of punishment, also effective as a means of correction?