Peter Merts is a photographer with a fine arts background, born and raised in southern Georgia, who eventually settled in the San Francisco area. We got to know Peter shortly after the publication of his book Ex Crucible (Dalylight Books, 2022), which showcases the art created by people incarcerated in California prisons.
Peter has been an instructor at The Image Flow for the past 3 years. He regularly teaches Photography Basics, Personal Projects, and Beyond the Basics Workshops. If you are lucky enough to take a class with him, you will know that he is exceptionally generous with his time, perspective, and expertise. He helps students of all levels to develop the technical skills and personal eye to elevate their own photo projects.
In Peter’s photographic practice, he documents the work of arts-based non-profit (NGO) organizations. Learn more about Peter’s recent photographs at the 2026 graduation at the Centinela State Prison in his own words below.
I recently returned from the Imperial Valley in California’s southeastern corner, where I photographed 29 men receiving Bachelor of Arts degrees while serving time in Centinela State Prison. This was my second graduation at the prison; in 2025, I photographed the first men to receive their BAs while incarcerated there.
The VISTA (Valuing Incarcerated Students through Academia) program of San Diego State University enables men incarcerated at Centinela who have an AA degree to earn a BA after two years of study.
Academic standards are the same as on the main university campus. In lieu of the traditional campus experience that students enjoy at SDSU, VISTA works to ameliorate the physical and emotional isolation of incarceration with holistic personal and academic support from an interdisciplinary team of faculty and staff.
It was 105 F outside the prison, but in a visiting room full of prison and university administrators, teachers, support staff, graduating students, family of those students, and a few correctional officers, the mood was celebratory.
I was invited to document these graduations because of my 20 years of experience photographing art classes in California prisons; I came to that long-term project through my advocacy photography of Bread & Roses, the Marin County non-profit that produces free, live entertainment in institutions, including at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.
Students were full of pride, excitement, and joy. I gave each student a slip of paper to pass to their families; it describes how to find online the photos I made that day. I give digital photos to the families at no charge, and they can order prints at cost from my website.
John Malagón was selected by fellow students as a commencement speaker. In his address, John described the importance of their newly earned degrees: “We learned we are redeemable. We learned that we have value, and that we still have something to offer to this world.”
Additional images of this event, plus Peter’s archive of prison arts photos, can be found on Peter’s website.
If you are interested in taking a workshop with Peter this fall, see our list of upcoming workshops.
