This documentary exhibition revisits powerful images by legendary DC-area photographer, Lloyd Wolf, while visiting inmates in the the Pilot Substance Abuse Program (PSAP) at the Lorton Correctional Complex in 1989-1990. Wolf’s portraits were part of the Washington City Paper cover story, “Prisoners’ Writes,” Vol. 10, No. 8, February 23-March 1, 1990.  

The voluntary PSAP program, founded by Jasper Ormond, ran from 1989-1991 and set out to help people incarcerated at Lorton’s Medium Security Facility recover from addiction through education and therapy. In 1989, the first 36 volunteers started with PSAP. The City Paper featured Wolf’s images alongside stories written by these men.  Their writing was facilitated by City Paper journalist, Jon Cohen, who published the following for this story: “I went to Lorton to do an article on the fledgling Pilot Substance Abuse Program. The inmates were less than enthusiastic, so I caved in and joined the program, helping them pen the stories of their lives.”  

While Cohen led classes in memoir writing, Wolf was there to capture the experience. This is the first time these portraits and images of the facility have been shared outside of the newspaper. Wolf’s photographs present a rare firsthand record of what life inside Lorton was like.