Still Lifes from Guantanamo Bay

3 minute read

One of President Barack Obama’s first orders following his inauguration in 2009 was to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year. Seven years later, as his presidency comes to an end, the contentious detention center still house 60 inmates — 20 of whom are cleared for release. Compounded with pledges from Obama’s successor Donald Trump to keep the detention center open, rights groups are making a final push to close the facility that at its peak detained about 680 prisoners. But the outcome is less than certain.

Path To Closure Of US Detention Center At Guantanamo Bay Still Uncertain
Permitted items for prisoners are displayed during a media tour of the "Gitmo" maximum security detention center on Oct. 22, 2016.John Moore—Getty Images

Throughout Obama’s presidency, Getty Images photographer John Moore visited the prison several times, most recently in October, to witness how it has changed in those years as the population has dwindled from hundreds to just a few dozen.

Moore’s quiet images— still lives, even— instantly communicate that vacancy at the U.S.’s oldest international naval base. Prisoners have been transferred or released, staff has been reduced. The stillness reflects the halt in progress, too, at a facility that limps away from its closure, hobbled but enduring amidst congressional restrictions.

During each visit, Moore has had to follow the military’s strict rules imposed on media organizations – each of his photographs are checked and approved before being released. “No photojournalist wants to have his or her work censored,” Moore tells TIME. “But I agreed to it going in because I think it’s important to be there, and the military public affairs officers worked very hard to help me make meaningful photos, despite the difficulties.”

Path To Closure Of US Detention Center At Guantanamo Bay Still Uncertain
A [f500link]McDonald's[/f500link] for military personnel and civilians awaits customers at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, also known as "Gitmo" on Oct. 23, 2016 in Cuba.John Moore—Getty Images

Faced with restrictions on photographing the faces of Gitmo’s guards and detainees, Moore navigated the facility sensitively, capturing haunting images of what could be shown. Absence and presence are at once conveyed, objects indicating the existence of the eerie facility’s residents.

Moore says his fascination with still life scenes can also be attributed in part to the “surreality of the place in general.”

He described why one image from the “boneyard,” where artwork is left by outgoing military units, was particularly poignant: “The central figure in the image is an homage from a still photo of Clint Eastwood. The great photojournalist Eddie Adams actually made that original photo for Parade Magazine in 1992, and it was later used as the poster for Eastwood’s film ‘Unforgiven.’ It was not the first time Adams’ photos were used in unintended ways.”

John Moore is a staff photographer at Getty Images.

Chelsea Matiash is TIME’s deputy multimedia editor. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @cmatiash.

Olivier Laurent, who contributed reporting, is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent.

Path To Closure Of US Detention Center At Guantanamo Bay Still Uncertain
The following Images have been reviewed by the U.S. Military prior to transmission. A television, protected by plexiglass, plays an Arabic music show at the maximum security detention center known as Gitmo at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Oct. 22, 2016. The U.S. military's Joint Task Force Guantanamo is still holding 60 detainees at the prison, down from a previous total of 780. On his second day in office in 2008 President Barack Obama issued an executive order to close the prison, which has failed because of political opposition in the U.S. John Moore—Getty Images
Path To Closure Of US Detention Center At Guantanamo Bay Still Uncertain
Prisoner artwork is displayed in the library of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center on Oct. 22, 2016 at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. John Moore—Getty Images
Path To Closure Of US Detention Center At Guantanamo Bay Still Uncertain
Reading materials and DVDs, including guidelines for distribution to prisoners, are displayed in the library of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center on Oct. 22, 2016.John Moore—Getty Images
Path To Closure Of US Detention Center At Guantanamo Bay Still Uncertain
A personal dress guideline for military personnel hangs at the entrance of a dining hall near the prison at Guantanamo Bay on Oct. 22, 2016.John Moore—Getty Images
Path To Closure Of US Detention Center At Guantanamo Bay Still Uncertain
A U.S. Navy doctor stands near a restraint chair in the detainee clinic at Gitmo on Oct. 22, 2016.John Moore—Getty Images
Path To Closure Of US Detention Center At Guantanamo Bay Still Uncertain
An artificial Christmas tree is displayed outside at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center on Oct. 22, 2016.John Moore—Getty Images
Path To Closure Of US Detention Center At Guantanamo Bay Still Uncertain
Displays created and left by previous military units fill the "boneyard" of a prison guard camp at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay on Oct. 22, 2016.John Moore—Getty Images
Path To Closure Of US Detention Center At Guantanamo Bay Still Uncertain
Permitted items for prisoners are displayed during a media tour of the "Gitmo" maximum security detention center on Oct. 22, 2016.John Moore—Getty Images
Path To Closure Of US Detention Center At Guantanamo Bay Still Uncertain
A training dummy lies inside the detainee clinic of the "Gitmo" maximum security detention center on Oct. 22, 2016.John Moore—Getty Images

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