Released

About Released

THE PROJECT

The Released Project is produced by The Center for Employment Opportunities an organization dedicated to providing immediate, effective and comprehensive employment services to men and women with recent criminal convictions. The project was produced to offer a rarely seen perspective of those returning home from prison or jail.

THE PARTICIPANTS

All individuals who have participated in the project have come to CEO to receive help in finding employment. While each individual has a criminal conviction, each person is at different stages of the program. The project began following the first participant in March of 2011 and CEO intends to continue telling their stories as they continue with the reentry process.

THE PHOTOGRAPHERS

Jeyhoun Allebaugh is a freelance photographer who specializes in documentary, sports and portraiture photography. He is based in New York City and North Carolina. As a Turkish-American and avid fan of Hip-Hop and Bluegrass music who has spent his college years in the mountains of North Carolina as well as South Africa, Jeyhoun brings a diversity of taste to all aspects of his life. His work has appeared in GQ, PDN Emerging Photographer, USA Today, UK Guardian, SLAM Magazine, HOOP Magazine, The Durham Herald-Sun, The Durham Independent Weekly, NBA.com and SI.com. Learn more about Jeyhoun at www.jeyhoun.com

Michael Scott Berman is a photographer specializing in food and portraits. His past clients include the New York Daily News, the Guardian, PNC Bank, and the AARP. He was the recipient of two grants from the Brooklyn Arts Council and has exhibited his work at the Leica Gallery in Manhattan and at Brooklyn Borough Hall. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from New York University and a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University. Besides taking pictures, Michael also produces video and writes stories for his food blog, pizzacentric.com. Learn more about Michael at www.msbphotography.com and www.pizzacentric.com

Bryan Tarnowski grew up in North Carolina and moved up to New York City to pursue photography in 2008. He assists with a number of the best fashion, commercial and portrait photographers in the world and has worked on shoots for top magazines and worldwide ad campaigns. Focusing on social documentary subjects of a wide variety, he likes to shoot what interests him, often to learn more about a subject and to quench his thirst for greater knowledge of the world. His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Vibe Magazine, PDNedu among others. Learn more about Bryan at www.bryantarnowski.com