Alcatraz: A Photo Diary

Last weekend, we took a trip to Alcatraz on the 75th anniversary of its opening as a federal prison. If you live in San Francisco or ever come to visit, I highly recommend the tour; you walk the grounds at your own pace with headphones and listen to a well-narrated guide program.

The program has interviews with guards and prisoners about each area of the prison, and it's really amazing to hear them discuss the very place you're standing; being inside a solitary confinement cell and hearing an ex-con talk about how he used to take a button of his shirt, throw it randomly around the cell and then crawl around in the pitch blackness searching for it to amuse himself is humbling to say the least.

Anyway, enough talking. I didn't plan to document my trip when we set out, but my phone (an iPhone 3G S) has a really reasonable camera and can record decent videos too, so I ended up putting it to use. I uploaded my favorites to Picasa and included captions for each picture/video, either recounting interesting facts or making pop culture jokes. I recommend viewing it in fullscreen and making sure to click "View HQ video" for the best experience.

Enjoy!

Alcatraz's 75th Anniversary