This abandoned island was once a brutal prison — and the photos of it will haunt you
Courtesy of Romain Veillon
- France had a brutal penal colony located on the islands of French Guiana from 1797 to 1953.
- Since the prison's closure, several businesses have attempted to build on the beautiful and desolate islands — but all have abandoned it.
- The abandoned prison buildings have slowly been reclaimed by nature.
- France currently welcomes tourists to the islands so that the atrocities of the past are neither forgotten nor repeated.
Romain Veillon is a photographer who loves to shoot urban ruins and share what he finds with the world. The beauty of what remains when humanity abandons a place to nature is fully evident in his book, "Ask The Dust" — as well as his impressive portfolio.
Veillon first learned the history of the prisoners France sent to Guiana when he was a young student growing up in the country. When he read the famous account "Papillon" by Henry Charrière — later revealed to be true stories from many prisoners, not only from the author, as he'd originally claimed — young Veillon thought at first that it was just fiction.
It was only later — with much horror — that he realized the terrible things he'd been reading about had happened to actual prisoners. Ever since then Veillon hoped to visit the site.
"I always [wanted] to see with my own eyes what remained of the colonial penitentiary on the islands because it is a unique relic of our past," he told INSIDER.
Keep scrolling to see what he found, and to peek inside his mind as he took it all in.
French colonists discovered three islands off the coast of French Guiana in the 1760s, naming them Îles du Salut. Two of the islands — Saint-Joseph and Diable — were transformed into a penal colony and brutal prison in 1797.
Courtesy of Romain Veillon
In the present day, Veillon said that if you do a very quick tour of the islands, "all you can see is the turquoise sea, coconut trees, and the sun shining."
Courtesy of Romain Veillon
However, centuries ago, the complete isolation of these islands offered little chance of prisoner escape.
Courtesy of Romain Veillon
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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