The Rookery at Alcatraz Island

Artist’s Statement:

At Alcatraz Island, birds nest in the pockets of crumbling buildings and within the tangled sprawl of overgrown bushes. They gaze across the bay at the beached humpback whale. That promise of freedom. That system of oppression. A bird shits on a cement barricade. Another does the same. They add to the excrement blotted throughout this island. Blotting out moans from prisoners & protests from Native Americans & the restless footsteps from tourists.

—Jill Boyles

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All images by Jill Boyles.