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Maze II

Maze II, is the second published volume of the MAZE work, (volume one was published in 2004). Maze II, continues Wylie’s interrogation into the architecture of modern conflict, and was published in 2009 in a slipcover containing a new edition of Maze I.

The Maze prison, held both republican and loyalist prisoners, and became synonymous with the Northern Ireland conflict. Wylie was the only photographer granted official and unlimited access to the Maze Prison site, when the demolition of the prison began 2007.

Wylie’s work locates itself between “art and document”, and as such, explores themes of memory and interpretation. Implementing a photographic landscape approach as a form of archaeology the photographs which document this period are divided into four sections, each depicting a “layer” of the prison: the internal walls, the various modes of fencing, the H-blocks and, finally, the perimeter walls. Eventually this once-enclosed space is reintegrated with the outside world. Wylie's work poses the question: How can collective histories be visually represented? Can the visual photographic examination and recording of a historical architecture act as an agent for personal narratives? The research explores how the fabric and physical structure of the prison is utilized as a form of control, and examines how the use of modern, and economically efficient materials manifest in enabling the construction, and deconstruction, of such a military installation in extremely effective ways.

Originally commissioned by The Archive of Modern Conflict, London. Published by Steidl international publishing. Exhibited nationally and internationally, including: the Photographers Gallery, London. Frankfurter Kunstverein e.V. Frankfurt, Germany. CCA. Montreal, Canada, and the Imperial War Museum, London. Shortlisted for the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize, 2010.

National and International press, including The Telegraph Magazine, Jan 2010. The Guardian Newspaper, March 2010.