1 - Just Landed

Summary

I enter the prison through a series of concentric circles. The outer ring is largely traversed by staff and sanctioned vehicles. Mumbled conversation is carried on the wind, though it is quiet here. With the exception of the solitary gardening orderly who issues pleasant greetings to all who pass, prisoners are barely glimpsed in this outer layer, other than briefly on the way in or out through reception, or when being escorted to and from legal visits. Calm, voices across concrete, separated from life outside but metres away from the busy traffic and bustle of city life just beyond the wall.

I perch outside, breaching the convention of always ‘coming/going through’ and listen to the thrum of living from the ghostly figures at windows. A lively symphony of radios, tellies, voices. I hear the bang of doors below. The thump of pulsing dance escapes from the gym, its vibrations nudging my sternum. Footsteps and keys on metal stairs hugging the buildings’ walls. Bass, conversation, shifting light as people move within. The sound of Whitney Houston's ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’ makes me smile. I am curious about the source of these sounds, the listeners to this music, and wonder whether I will come to know them. Chats, trading, bartering, bantering.

Through the second circle, footfall is dampened on carpet tiles. I hear the more familiar thrum of office life; jovial voices, ringing phones, tapping keyboards. Workers’ movement is accompanied by the less commonplace percussion of jangling keys. Beneath me I can hear, and feel, comings and goings through clunking doors. Metal on metal below my feet as staff move through the main body of the prison. Offices are separated by plasterboard partitions which do not reach floor or ceiling, bleeding sounds of laughter, sneezes, radio. At HMP Midtown it appears privacy is scarce for all. Keys, jangle of chain, thunk as lock bites, clunk of lock, creak of gate. Lock and unlock has a rhythm. Entry is invisible from my vantage point upstairs. I begin to discern a difference in footsteps. Staff are more measured, heavier boots and stride.