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Eastern State Penitentiary Photo Tour
Sunday, May 21, 2017 at 10:00 AM

We will be randomly selecting 25 photographers from all entries received. In the unfortunate event that you are not selected, or you want to bring guests, tickets will be available for purchase beginning on April 1, 2017.

About Your Visit

Arrive at 10am to receive a 30-minute "Quick Glance" highlights tour which is perfect for groups primarily coming to photograph the building. You are welcome to remain on site after the tour to photograph, sketch or view the artist installations and history exhibits until the site closes at 5:00pm.

No equipment, other than a single tripod, monopod or easel, is permitted during public hours.

We ask that you honor these policies when photographing here:

• Please do not touch or move any objects or artifacts.
• No models or props are permitted during public hours.
• Only still photography is allowed, no filming.
• There can be no nudity, semi-nudity, sexually provocative or sexually explicit images or any content in conflict with the mission of ESPHS filmed/photographed at the penitentiary.
• Eastern State requires the location credit "Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, PA" in all uses of penitentiary photos in print, on the web, in broadcast, and in any other public medium.
• Eastern State assumes no responsibility for loss, theft, or damage to equipment.

Some History

The Eastern State Penitentiary, also known as ESP, is a former American prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located at 2027 Fairmount Avenue between Corinthian Avenue and North 22nd Street in the Fairmount section of the city, and was operational from 1829 until 1971. The penitentiary refined the revolutionary system of separate incarceration first pioneered at the Walnut Street Jail which emphasized principles of reform rather than punishment.

Notorious criminals such as Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton were held inside its innovative wagon wheel design. James Bruno (Big Joe) and several male relatives were incarcerated here between 1936-1948 for the alleged murders in the Kelayres Massacre of 1934, before they were pardoned. . At its completion, the building was the largest and most expensive public structure ever erected, and quickly became a model for more than 300 prisons worldwide

The prison is currently a U.S. National Historic Landmark, which is open to the public as a museum for tours seven days a week, twelve months a year, 10 am to 5 pm.