Bondsman in his office in downtown Brooklyn, NYC, 2013.
Bail Bond is a visual tale set in contemporary New York. By weaving together stories of bondsmen, defendants and bounty hunters, the reportage sheds light on an unexplored edge of law and order in the US, a place where crime and security collide and amalgamate, leaving no room for the spectator to take side.
In the US legal system, a person accused of committing a crime is called a defendant: assumed innocent, he must be proven guilty, or else released. While waiting for judgment, defendants can live as free men and women, as long as they pay a sum of money, considered a guarantee for their appearance in court on the dates assigned for the trial. When defendants cannot pay, bondsmen act as guarantors by providing the requested money and assuming the responsibility to force recalcitrant defendants into court on their day, with the help of bounty hunters.
Bondsman in his office in downtown Brooklyn, NYC, 2013.
NYC – Baltimore, 2012-2014
bail bondsman and bounty hunter. Flatbush, Brooklyn, NYC, US, 2013.
Gun, money, Bible and family in a frame hanging in defendantÕs living room. Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NYC, 2013.
The majority of persons arrested in New York City are either African American or Hispanic. Most live in monolithic apartment complexes called Projects strewn throughout the city. This one is in the Bronx, NYC, 2013.
bounty hunter, drives across Brooklyn Bridge at dusk. NYC, 2012.
Defendants at a bail bond office, waiting to be returned to jail in Brooklyn, NYC, 2013.
Defendant, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NYC, 2013.
Defendant with his son Joseph in Bedford-Stuyvesant, one of New York CityÕs poorest areas, which many defendants come from. 2013.
Defendant with his son and his ex partner in the building’s corridor where he lives. Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, NYC, 2013
Bounty hunters can sometimes rely on just one picture to retrieve a fugitive. East New York, Brooklyn, NYC, 2011.
Bounty hunters leave the house of a fugitiveÕs relative in Baltimore County, Maryland, 2013.
When a defendant signs the contract with a bondsman, he legally allows bounty hunters to enter his residence. Baltimore, Maryland, 2013.
Most retrieval expeditions happen in the night-time, as the dark and the fact that often defendants return home to eat or sleep improves the chances of success. Manhattan, NYC, 2012.
Bounty hunters looking for a defendant. Baltimore, Maryland, 2013
Bail Bond. Bondsman, defendants and bounty hunters. A book published by Fabrica, the communication research center of Benetton group in Treviso. The exhibit curated by Diego Orlando will be held in Rome at Officine Fotografiche from jan 9 till jan 30, 2015 and in New York in April.
Bondsmen during a stakeout that could last all night. Buswick, Brooklyn, NYC, 2013.
In New York State bail bondsmen cannot carry firearms and must depend on commonplace equipment, such as bullet-proof vests, handcuffs, short batons and pepper spray, to identify and capture a fugitive. Bronx, NYC, 2013.
A bounty hunter at the doorstep of the house where his fugitive is supposed to be. Bronx, NYC, 2013.
A defendant arrested in his home in Baltimore, Maryland, 2013.
After being retrieved, a defendant is granted a cigarette before being taken to jail. Downtown Brooklyn, NYC, 2013.
A defendant re-arrested in Harlem, Manhattan, NYC, 2012. There are more prisoners in the United States than in any other nation in the world.
bounty hunters in the projects. Baltimore, Maryland, 2013
Bio
(Florence, Italy, 1985) I have always been interested in photography, since I was very young. After receiving a degree in Visual design at the University of Architecture of Florence, I decided to make my passion for photography become my life and my profession. So, I started the one that then become my most important project, Theatre in Prison in Tuscany. With my camera I’ve begun to show how the method of acting in prison can be a useful tool to changing the way the criminal mind works. In NYC, after an Internship in Magnum Photos, through the Photojournalist Donna Ferrato (that i’ve been assisting for over two years), I started my project in Rikers Island Jail’s Battered women section.
I’ve been awarded a yearlong residency at FABRICA, the communication research center of Benetton group in Treviso, where I just published my first solo book, Bail Bond. Bondsmen, defendants & bounty hunters. I’m represented by DB Daria Bonera Agency for Advertising.
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Clara Vannucci
Just two words: Top. Notch!
Interesting subject well executed, I like to see more slightly dirtier looking pictures along the lines of 16. Really impressed with the access you got.
Not a typical subject… And it seems risky… It´s good to see different subjects.
Maybe too many pictures. I like 2, 4, 9, 12, 16, 20 and 23, above all, as a set.
Congrats for the work!
interesting, gutsy, and beautifully photographed
Fantastic set! #14 really jumped out at me, moving.
This was a wonderful photo essay. The environmental portrait of the bondsmen in his office really stands out to me. I also love the image of the stakeout through the windshield. Number 13 makes me sad. They are all great images in their own right though. A look at the gritty world of bail bondsmen, but also a commentary on poverty and the human condition.
Absolutely superb essay.
Bel lavoro, e sicuramente emozionante!! Da entrambe le parti, mi piace molto il taglio che hai usato alcune foto sono davvero molto “dense”, non essendo un critico non aggiungo altro ma bel lavoro, complimenti!