The Guantanamo Bay detention center is a household name in America – but few can imagine what life is like for those who have spent the bulk of their lives there.
After rampant allegations of abuse and torture, a high-profile appeal to close the prison was issued, but to no avail. Forty-one people are still being held at Guantanamo on suspicion of terrorism, and the base is staffed by hundreds of US military officials who are not allowed to leave its grounds.
New York-based photographer Debi Cornwall was allowed rare permission to visit the base. She walked its grounds under the watchful eye of an omnipotent military escort, and has spent the last three years attempting to capture what modern life is like for those who reside on the island.
‘What I’m really asking is: what do we have in common?’ Cornwall told DailyMail.com. ‘If we can step back and ask about the human experience in a space where no one has chosen to live, we might be surprised.’
Photographer Debi Cornwall visited the Guantanamo Bay detention center – under the watchful eye of a constant military escort – in an attempt to document the lives of soldiers and their families stationed there, and of the men who were once incarcerated
She quickly learned that Guantanamo is considered ‘so much fun’ for deployed military and their families. Because they aren’t permitted to leave the base, efforts like the kiddie pool, pictured here, have been taken to make the are more livable
