Rushing, R. Kim. Parchman. Photographs of prison life by R. Kim Rushing.

University Press of Mississippi, 2016. First edition, first printing. Hardcover, small bumps on top corners, not noticeable when dust jacket is on book and otherwise fine, with fine protected dust jacket.  208 pages. Photographs by R. Kim Rushing in black and white of prisoners at the Mississippi State Prison at Parchman and reproductions of their writings, with a foreword by Mark Goodman.  Parchman, which covers 46 square miles, was constructed in 1904 in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. In 1994, Rushing was the first outside photographer allowed access in the penitentiary’s history. Eighteen inmates, ranging from custody level to Death Row, volunteered to be portrayed in portraits and candid shots and to have their statements, some hand written, reproduced.  Rushing spent four years on the project while living nearby in Ruleville while teaching photography at Delta State University.  Summary:

Parchman: Photographs of Prison Life — the documentary photography book by R. Kim Rushing — is a powerful and intimate visual account of life inside the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, one of the United States’ most infamous prison farms. Published in 2016 by the University Press of Mississippi, the book presents a remarkable body of work that combines stark black-and-white photographs with handwritten letters from incarcerated men.

Rushing became the first outside photographer in Parchman’s history to gain extended, long-term access to inmates, beginning his project in 1994 and spending nearly four years earning the trust of the men he photographed. His portraits focus not on sweeping views of the vast 20,000-acre prison farm but on the individual lives and conditions of eighteen volunteer inmates, ranging from trusted workers to those on death row.

What sets the book apart is its dual perspective: intimate photographic portraits of prisoners captured in their cells and daily routines are paired with their own handwritten thoughts and reflections on incarceration. Taken together, the visual and written material provides a deeply humanizing and unflinching look at the impacts of imprisonment — capturing moments of stillness, isolation, routine, and the psychological weight of confinement.

The resulting work is at once a document of institutional life and a meditation on identity, resilience, and humanity behind the walls — offering readers an unprecedented and empathetic understanding of Parchman’s incarcerated individuals.