The blog "Prison Photography" recently reported on a phenomenal Facebook album of colorful photos of American prisoners in the '80s taken by photographer Stephen Milanowski.

Milanowski — whose work is in the permanent collections of MoMA and other museums — gave us permission to publish the images. He took the photos between 1982 and 1986 in prisons in Walpole, Mass., Ionia, Mich., and Jackson, Mich.

The early and mid-1980s were a time when prison populations were exploding. Milanowski's photos, some of which appear in the book "Duplicity" he worked on with Bob Tarte, provide a vivid look into an experience that has become all too common in America.

"Americans very much ignore prisons and prison life — unless they live near a prison where the prison is the source of some level of local employment. Americans seem to only take notice of prisons when there is a problem, an escape, a prison disturbance (that receives national media attention), or when there is some breakdown in the system," Milanowski told the Prison Photography blog.

Milanowski added: "I think photography can help — and be an effective tool in informing the public about prisons and who inhabits American prisons; but, I’m not sure at all that our society wants to look at prisons and prison life … it's too easy to ignore."

A maximum-security inmate leaned against a railing at Massachusetts' Walpole Prison in 1982. From the book "Duplicity." Steve Milanowski Milanowski showed a medium-security inmate at Walpole reclining in his cluttered room in this other 1982 photo, his jeans hanging above his bed. From the book "Duplicity." Steve Milanowski