by Sam Gentry

Jan Banning is seemingly always on a mission. His life-spanning career as an award-winning photographer has taken him around the world and brought him success most could only dream of. Recently, by nothing more than chance, while working on a new collection Banning discovered what he believes to be a great injustice which took place in Carroll County, Georgia over two decades ago, and he has now taken on the task of doing whatever he can to right the wrong.

Born in Almelo (Netherlands) on May 4th, 1954, from Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia) parents, Banning is an independent artist/photographer based in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Banning attributes his worldly aspirations and viewpoints to the fact that his parents were both born in a different place than he was.

“From early on I realized my parents were born elsewhere,” he said. “I was always aware that there was a wider world.”

In his early years, he studied social and economic history at the Radboud University of Nijmegen. Those studies were absolutely key in the types of topics and interests that became the driving forces in his work throughout his career.

“My study of history and not art strongly influenced my way of looking at things,” he said. “I investigate, and when I do approach things I tend to do kind of academic research. In fact, my interest in history started because I wanted to be an investigative journalist.”

Although Banning said he was ‘not a good student,’ he began to focus more heavily on his studies when he turned 21. Soon after, he bought his first camera.  Although he had no formal education as a photographer, he began photographing people, things, and events which he felt were of importance and interest to others.

“I knew how to handle a camera and I knew what to do more or less in the dark room, but I had to teach myself how to be a photographer,” he said.

His skills and work continued to evolve ‘into photojournalism and then into the arts.’ Over time, he learned to combine all of his talents and abilities to create his greatest works.

“I prefer photography because I would rather provoke people to think and come to their own conclusions rather than writing and trying to tell them how to think,” he said. “My writing seems to be more one dimensional, but I believe in openness, and that’s what I can do with my photography.”

Throughout the years, Banning has taken on countless assignments through major media companies/outlets around the world, but he has always done independent work. At this point in his career, Banning is ‘entirely free’ to pursue his own professional and artistic interests, only doing on average one assignment per year for others. As for the United States, his photography has been featured in Time, National Geographic, Newsweek, Virginia Quarterly Review, and The New Yorker, to name a few. Around the world, his work has been featured in publications in Japan, China, Holland, France, Russia, Germany, and many other countries.

His hard work, keen sense of what matters most to people in various societies, and sheer talent have paid off, to say the least.

He has received numerous awards from around the world, including the Lead Academy 2007 Certificate of Honor (most prestigious German award for printed and online media) for “Wir sind der Staat” (We Are The State), published in Cicero Magazine (September 2007); World Press Photo 2004, Documentary Portrait Series, for the India chapter of the project “Bureaucratics;” and Prize of Prague 2004, for the India chapter of the project “Bureaucratics.” This is just a small sample of his accolades. A full list can be found at janbanning.com.

“I publish a lot,” he said, “and it’s because my topics are all society-related, and I want to participate in the public debate with my work.”

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta has a number of Banning’s photographs from his series “Bureaucratics “and a series called “Down and Out in the South” (partly done in Atlanta). Other museums around the country and the world also feature his works. Furthermore, he has held exhibitions in more than 25 countries on five continents.

“Bureaucratics” was a huge success for Banning, but he said real success is managing to grab the attention of new and different audiences, and making an impact on them through the broadness and depth of his work. For instance, he did a series called “Comfort Women,” which was about women/girls who were forced to be sex slaves for the Japanese during World War II. These young girls were from China, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and a few other countries which were involved in the war. Banning focused his photography for the series on the women from Indonesia; many of whom were in their 80s by that time.

“We delved into what has been the consequence of this experience in your later life,” he said. “How did you manage to cope with it, etc.”

In 2010, Banning decided his next venture would be examining and exploring the world of criminal justice.

“At the time this was a rational decision,” he said. “I had done ‘Bureaucratics’ which was about the executive. I thought, ‘Wait a minute; let’s now delve into another aspect of the trias politica. Instead of an abstract approach I wanted to make it very concrete – as in how do we handle crime?’”

He said his desire to take part in society’s debate on the topic made it more interesting on a number of levels.

“I’m a great fan of comparing different situations,” he said. “I think that sheds an enormous amount of light. In the case of criminal justice that’s what I wanted to do.”

Knowing little about law, Banning began researching criminal justice through universities and other viable sources.  After much discussion with criminal justice professors who were experts on the subject, Banning then narrowed down how and where he wanted to begin his series.

“The outcome of these conversations was the selection of four possible countries, including the U.S.,” he said.

After a year-and-a-half of red tape and proper channeling, Banning was granted access to selected prisons in the United States. Because he had worked in Georgia on his “Down and Out in the South” book, he used his contacts to make his photo shoot possible. He was personally given permission by then commissioner of the Georgia Department of Corrections, Brian Owens, to shoot photos in five Georgia prisons.

“He was very cooperative,” Banning said. “He saw my work and knew it was serious stuff, so he gave me access.”

Banning had no idea at the time that the final prison he would shoot in, Pulaski Women’s Prison in Hawkinsville, Georgia would change the course of his life. He set up a temporary studio in the prison and shot for two days. He was not allowed to ask many questions or get into deep conversations with the prisoners, but could ask their name, date of birth, the length of their sentence, and when it started. Although he couldn’t learn much about them from personal conversations, he had a two layer approach to this particular session, which would lead him to a provocative discovery.

“One was the visual idea,” he said. “I wanted to portray these women as I would portray anyone else. I believe that given the right circumstances many – if not all – of us might end the same way. I wanted to bridge the gap between mug shots – which put us as far away as possible – and ourselves.”

For the second tier of the series, Banning wanted to tell as much of a story about each of the prisoners as possible. After he completed the shoot and began putting together what he deemed to be the best photographs, he began researching the women on the internet. He found a great deal of intriguing information, he said, but one story stuck out to him the most. The story of Christina Boyer.

“The first thing I thought was that something really strange is going on here,” he said. “Something is deeply wrong.”

Through his research, Banning began learning facts and discovering detailed information which led him to feel that, quite possibly, Boyer had been falsely incarcerated for the murder of her daughter.

One article which provided an abundance of information and insight to Banning was written by Sue Horn and published in the Carroll Star News on January 20th, 2008. Banning discovered the article online on a website dedicated to helping Boyer gain her freedom. PLEASE SEE A FULL REPRINT OF HORN’S STORY BELOW WHICH INCLUDES A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF BOYER AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING HER CASE 

Christina Boyer, born October 23, 1969, is currently still serving a life sentence for the murder of her daughter, Amber. Her incarceration began April 15, 1992.

In an excerpt from his website, Banning offers an overview of her story and the case:

In 1992, at the age of 22, Christina Boyer aka Tina Resch (her maiden name) was arrested along with David Herrin, her boyfriend of less than two months, on the accusation of being responsible for the death of her three-year-old only daughter Amber. At the time of her death, Amber was in the sole custody of David in his rented mobile home in Carrollton. Amber was killed by a fatal blow to the head. According to the medical examiner’s testimony, physical evidence points to David as the one who was present when the fatal blow was delivered. During the time frame when this injury occurred, Christina was at the home of psychologist Jeannie Lagle and she had been there for nearly six hours.

Despite having access to the alibi information of the psychologist, hospital emergency room records, and the medical examiner for consultation, the District Attorney charged Christina with murder by failing to seek proper medical attention for the head trauma that caused her daughter’s death.

After waiting more than two and a half years in jail for a trial, her court-appointed lawyer advised her to accept a plea agreement which he had worked out with the D.A. and the Assistant D.A. (an Alford plea). That way, he said, she could avoid the risk of a death penalty by electrocution.

In October 1994, less than 24 hours after having passed a polygraph (lie detector) test indicating her innocence, and with the start of the trial just days away, Christina decided to accept that plea agreement: she asserted her innocence but agreed to accept a punishment for lesser charges of life plus 20 years in prison with the possibility of parole, rather than risking a death sentence. Visit http://www.janbanning.com/pulaski/portraits-&-stories/christina-boyer for full details of the Boyer story plus personal correspondences between Banning and Boyer.

Although he admits Boyer was no angel and certainly not an ideal mother or proper caretaker, Banning said the issue is that she appears to have been convicted of a crime which she did not commit – the murder of her daughter.

Banning said he recently contacted a lawyer who specializes in post-conviction litigation (considered in the top five percent of lawyers in Georgia) about the case and the possibility of helping free Boyer. According to Banning, the attorney told him there were “basically two options”:

1) Reversal, which he said would be extremely difficult if not impossible, with huge procedural barriers. It would also be extremely expensive while at the same time almost hopeless. One would have to prove actual innocence, and according to the lawyer, that is terribly difficult (in general).

2) Parole. Prior to 1995, Life had a mandatory minimum of 7 years until the first chance for parole. Later, that was changed to 14 years, and now its 30 years. Also, if there is no legal assistance, the only information that reaches the parole board is from the prosecution and prison authorities.

Banning has also reached out to a world-renowned pathologist who said that if any biological material still exists from the original examination/investigation, he has the technology to determine how long it took Amber to die after the fatal blow took place. If it proved to be within the timespan in which Amber was not in the care of Christina Boyer that day, it would be strong evidence to suggest she could not have committed the crime.

“It has become an obsession,” Banning said. “I want to find out the truth.”

Banning traveled from the Netherlands to Carroll County to further his research and understanding of the case so as to better assist him on his quest for justice.

“I felt like this was the place to learn more about it,” he said. “I assume there are people here who remember the case and may feel strongly about it – whether negatively or positively.”

Over 37 years, Banning has enjoyed international acclaim and amassed an incredible body of work. And, although he wants to continue working and creating art through his photography, Banning said he has one goal he feels he must accomplish.

“I want to get Christina Boyer out of prison,” he said.