Pablo and Roxana Allison

Operation Jurassic | Whilst studying photography in 2005 my brother Pablo was commissioned to take pictures inside Wormwood Scrubs Prison for the council-led project Prison Me. No Way! Pablo was unaware at the time that seven years later he would be back in serving a nineteen-month prison sentence. 

In early March 2010 the police raided Pablo’s room; cameras, rolls of film, sketchbooks, pens and his computer were all confiscated and he was subsequently arrested. He called me that morning to tell me that this would be the beginning of a long police investigation involving several graffiti artists. We learned that Operation Jurassic (the official case name) was a major anti-graffiti police investigation being carried out since 2003.

The Crown Court sentenced Pablo and four other graffiti artists to various prison sentences in November 2012. The combined lengths amounted to 11 years.

The result of our journey is this eight-year-long photographic collaboration titled Operation Jurassic. Our visual account includes legal documentation, paperwork, letters, diaries, drawings and photographs that uncover emotions and the passing of time offering the viewer an intimate approach of the legal process whilst raising issues on freedom of expression and justice.

A limited edition self-published book with an introductory essay by writer, curator and educator Pete Brook was launched in 2018 and is now sold out. www.roxanaallison.co.uk