Capstones
Graduation Date
Fall 12-16-2019
Grading Professor
Tom Robbins
Subject Concentration
Urban Reporting
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Abstract
Lance Sessoms has served 32 years in prison for a crime he committed. He has spent the entirety of his long term sentence turning his life around and helping any and everyone that he's crossed paths with. Now, Sessoms is hoping a life of servitude and being a model incarcerated person will afford him a second chance at life and with his family.
https://medium.com/@tljdowd/a-shot-at-freedom-the-story-of-lance-sessoms-d3f190e0b81a
Recommended Citation
Dowd, Trone L. and Misdary, Rosemary, "A Shot At Freedom: The Story Of Lance Sessoms" (2019). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gj_etds/385
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_1.jpg (261 kB)
Rosemary Misdary photographs the security check into Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Trone Dowd is going through equipment with guards.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_2.jpg (192 kB)
Correctional Officers at Sing Sing still keep track of their time the antiquated punch cards. Much of the prison felt lost in time.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_3.jpg (219 kB)
The view from any window at Sing Sing is latticed with metal like you are in a cage. This is the view of the Hudson River from inside Sing Sing.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_4.jpg (164 kB)
The guard tower at the main entrance is a reminder that the guards are watching.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_5.jpg (226 kB)
A correctional officer begins her shift as she prepares to enter the main lock up.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_6.jpg (339 kB)
Trone Dowd (standing behind the camera) sets up to film an interview with Lance Sessoms (seated) who is applying for clemency after serving 32 years of his 75-year sentence.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_7.jpg (215 kB)
When we were first brought in, we saw this incarcerated man walking in circles in an outside courtyard the size of half of a basketball court. Every time we looked out the window, he was there pacing, listless with a bleak expression. He was still walking in circles when we left seven hours later.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_8.jpg (266 kB)
Lance Sessoms, 54, was anxious at first. Sing Sing correctional officers took him out of his cell at 8 am that morning. He had no food or water the whole day until we finished filming at nearly 3 pm. We were anxious too. Every moment was a negiotiation between getting our equipment through security and getting moved around to a different room to film and almsot losing the right to film altogether.
VIDEO_Dowd_Trone_Misdary_Rosemary.mp4 (625655 kB)
Short documentary filmed and edited by Trone Dowd and produced by Trone Dowd and Rosemary Misdary
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_9.JPG (6853 kB)
Lance Sessoms, one of six men tried and convicted in the 1988 “Brooklyn Six" case.
Rosemary Misdary photographs the security check into Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Trone Dowd is going through equipment with guards.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_2.jpg (192 kB)
Correctional Officers at Sing Sing still keep track of their time the antiquated punch cards. Much of the prison felt lost in time.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_3.jpg (219 kB)
The view from any window at Sing Sing is latticed with metal like you are in a cage. This is the view of the Hudson River from inside Sing Sing.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_4.jpg (164 kB)
The guard tower at the main entrance is a reminder that the guards are watching.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_5.jpg (226 kB)
A correctional officer begins her shift as she prepares to enter the main lock up.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_6.jpg (339 kB)
Trone Dowd (standing behind the camera) sets up to film an interview with Lance Sessoms (seated) who is applying for clemency after serving 32 years of his 75-year sentence.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_7.jpg (215 kB)
When we were first brought in, we saw this incarcerated man walking in circles in an outside courtyard the size of half of a basketball court. Every time we looked out the window, he was there pacing, listless with a bleak expression. He was still walking in circles when we left seven hours later.
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_8.jpg (266 kB)
Lance Sessoms, 54, was anxious at first. Sing Sing correctional officers took him out of his cell at 8 am that morning. He had no food or water the whole day until we finished filming at nearly 3 pm. We were anxious too. Every moment was a negiotiation between getting our equipment through security and getting moved around to a different room to film and almsot losing the right to film altogether.
VIDEO_Dowd_Trone_Misdary_Rosemary.mp4 (625655 kB)
Short documentary filmed and edited by Trone Dowd and produced by Trone Dowd and Rosemary Misdary
PHOTO_Misdary_Rosemary_9.JPG (6853 kB)
Lance Sessoms, one of six men tried and convicted in the 1988 “Brooklyn Six" case.