GEMS. Tintypes, cast resin, bottlecaps.
A gem is small tintype image, around an inch in size, used in the 19th century.
Historically the gem was less expensive making it more accessible to purchase. They were made using a camera with special lenses, which created a plate with several images. Gems were used the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln. The “Gems” you are looking at, in many ways, are a record of individuals who find themselves in the hands of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department. Each gem is an attempt to recognize the value in every person worthy of basic human rights, regardless of who they are and the severity of the alleged crime. They are a representation of the three hundred people arrested every day in Maricopa County.
