A defense lawyer’s photos of four women re-entering society.

Sara Bennett has been a criminal defense lawyer in New York for 30 years. She has represented men and women who have committed terrible acts; many have spent decades in prison, some have died there. “The longer you’re an attorney the more serious your cases are,” she said, recalling a 16-year-old client who was sentenced to life without parole for murder. “I never forgot him.” “When you send people away for life,’’ she says, “you’re saying there’s no hope. That they’ll never be rehabilitated.” And yet, she adds, “People are more than their worst act. People are complicated.”It was after completing a photography project a couple of years ago that Bennett, now 59, realized that her images could reveal what years before judges and juries could not: a more complete picture of ordinary lives upended by extraordinary circumstances.Each of her subjects was convicted of murder, she said, and “I want people to think, ‘So this is what a murderer looks like’.”

Tracy attends Mount Olive Baptist Church in Englewood, N.J.

Keila, 40, almost a month after her release, on her first subway ride in 20 years.

Keila at her cousin’s home on Long Island, above, where she lived after her release from prison.

Tracy, 49, living in a three-quarter house in the South Bronx, one of five residences she’s had since her release from prison.

Evelyn meets with Sister Elaine Roulet, a nun who worked at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, at a spiritual retreat for formerly incarcerated women in Brooklyn.

Tracy has her make-up applied by a family friend at her daughter’s home in Bergenfield, N.J.

Tracy has her make-up applied by a family friend at her daughter’s home in Bergenfield, N.J.

Tracy waits to meet with her counselor in Brooklyn.

Evelyn at work in the cafeteria of the World Financial Center in Manhattan.

Carol, 65, attends a communal dinner at her transitional housing in Long Island City.

Carol had two heart attacks in prison. Her friends, Kelly, left, and Tina visit her at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Long Island City where she receives treatment for heart disease.

Evelyn at home in Flushing.

Carol takes the bus to her cardiologist’s office.

Keila meets with the board of directors of Healing Communities Network, a non-profit ministry, that ran a program at Bedford Hills Correctional Facilities that Keila participated in.

Keila at a religious retreat with other former prisoners in Brooklyn.

Carol, one year after her release on Mar. 18, 2014, with the children of a neighbor Cecil and Darjay. They all live in housing provided by Hour Children, an organization that provides services to formerly incarcerated women.

Tracy works during the night shift at a Burger King in mid-town Manhattan.

Evelyn in Brooklyn.

“Life After Life Inside” is on view at The Passage Gallery at the State University of New York, Purchase until October 18, 2015.

Source: The Marshall Project