Former inmates of HMP Holloway unite in portrait project

Former inmates of HMP Holloway have united to tell of their progress after prison as part of an exhibition to "challenge reductive stereotypes".

Letters, portraits and film are to portray the stories of 29 women and one transgender man who were incarcerated at the north London site.

Holloway prison was shut in 2016 and is due to be converted into housing.

The organisers said they wanted to "give visibility" to those who "rarely gain access to speak for themselves".

The year-long project took the former inmates back to the crumbling cells of Holloway, which was once the largest women's jail in western Europe.

Many of those involved in the project wrote letters to themselves or loved ones.

"You're only 19 as I'm writing you this letter with your father dead and you inside a cell," Ashsa Marshall-James wrote. "But we both know you deserve better and cannot dwell in this emotion forever.

"It's self-destructive and I think we should deter," Ms Marshall-James wrote.

The 28-year-old is now a funeral director in south London.

She said she was inspired to help others going through the grieving process after she lost her father as a young woman.

Danny Baker, a transgender man, began his transition after he left Holloway.

"Know that you are loved and you are safe," the 35-year-old wrote.

"Know that your feelings are correct, you ARE different to the other girls and the women, in fact you're not a girl or a woman, you're a young man and things will fall into place soon," he added.

Mr Baker, who lives in Enfield in north London, pursed a career in boxing and last year became the first transgender boxer to take part in a men's semi-professional match.

Mandy Ogunmokun's earlier path in life was one of abuse, destruction and addiction and she was jailed multiple times.

"You have a future, you have a purpose, who would have thought a victim of sexual abuse, a thief, a prostitute and a drug addict, could have a complete transformation," her letter explained.

Ms Ogunmokun said she was abused from the aged of four and became addicted to drugs aged just 11.

Now 63, Mandy has established a charity called Treasures Foundation, which provides accommodation for vulnerable women. "We did it Mandy," she added.

Latoyah completed a childhood and youth degree in her time at Holloway and went on to get an MA in crime, violence and prevention.

She wrote to herself: "You should be proud of the amazing woman you are today.

"Use your story to empower others and let them know, they will get told no and have doors closed, they can achieve what they put their mind to and they should believe in themselves and continue to chase the dream."

Latoyah went on to become a senior practitioner in social care and is dedicated to helping young women in difficult circumstances.

"The resilience, sisterhood, and triumph over adversity in these stories is astonishing," the project's director Sophie Compton said.

"They also shine a stark light on the systemic issues of abuse, trauma and poverty that so clearly intersect with women's prisons," she continued.

Ms Compton worked with Aliyah Ali, another former Holloway inmate, to "challenge reductive, simple stereotypes of prisoners".

The exhibition will run at the Copeland Gallery in Peckham from Thursday until Sunday.

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