About the project
Guantanamo: If The Light Goes Out
by Edmund Clark
‘When you are suspended by a rope you can recover but every time I see a rope I remember. If the light goes out
unexpectedly in a room, I am back in my cell.’
Binyam Mohamed, Prisoner #1458
This is a study of home, of a very particular idea of home at a very particular time in our history, and the lives of people whose paths crossed on 45 square miles of Cuba, cut off from the rest of the world by razor wire and water.
Rather than an attempt to monumentalize the historical fact of the Guantanamo camps, these images illustrate three ideas of home: The naval base at Guantanamo which is home to the American community and of which the prison camps are just a part; the complex of camps where the detainees have been held, and the homes, new and old, where the former detainees now find themselves trying to rebuild their lives.
The narrative of these images aims to evoke the process of disorientation and dislocation central to the techniques of incarceration at Guantanamo, and to explore the legacy of disturbance such experiences have in the minds and memories of these men. The viewer is asked to jump from prison camp detail to domestic still life, from life outside to the naval base and back again. From light to dark.
The aim of this website is to provide a platform for comment about the detention camps at Guantanamo Bay. To represent the passage of time spent in detention each day of a month is denoted by an image and a comment from those most closely involved in the events of Guantanamo, including ex-detainees, lawyers and medical experts. Please add to these contributions by posting your own comments about Guantanamo, the images or the site.
Yvonne R. Bradley’s comments are her own and do not represent the views or opinions of the United States Air Force, the United States Air Force Reserve, the Department of Defense, or any military or U.S. government agency or organization.