If mug shots still looked this good, I think I'd go break the law just to have a nice portrait done. Again with the form and function and one following the other and all that. These were mostly taken by police photographers for the simple purpose of getting a clean picture of the accused, and a decent full body pic as well, that's it. But, a century and some odd years later, and you got a real nice looking series of artistic portraits. Check out the style some of these cons are throwing down. Breaking the law just isn't as chic as it used to be, now is it?
Is it me, or does the guy toward the middle look like he could be Christopher Moltisanti's great grandfather?
July 27, 2009
Early Sydney Mug Shots
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28 comments:
What a fine looking bunch of criminals....we certainly bred them well down here. If that spiv in the middle is Chrissys' great pappy then the photographer must have been related to one R.Avendon...remarkable composition.
These are absolutely beautiful!
fantastic
wow, yeah, mug shots lately just don't have this same flair, do they?
so walter smith looks like his face has had a rough life.
h. mcguiness looks like her friday night/saturday morning isn't going so well.
and the same little old guy is in the corner in at least two shots. nice.
went through Aussie cusotms a few weeks back w my British passport.
"how long?"
"2 weeks"
"business / pleasure"
"business"
"criminal record?"
"i didnt think you still needed one..." ZING.
These are fantastic.
Damn! People PAY to have photos of this style and quality taken of themselves today. These bums got'em for free!! I wonder if their relatives received any nice, glossy copies. Now *THAT* would be awesome!
Really cool photos. It does make you wonder about their lives.
An Arkies Musings
for those wanting more of Sydney underbelly.....
http://blogs.hht.net.au/justice/
It looks like the photographer may have been hankering to dabble in fine art. The addition of the older man in the corner of two of those above is very Cartier-Bresson
christopher moltisani!!! hahahahahaha
what a resemblance !!
this was actually interesting!
the prostitutes in sydney haven't improved much in the past several decades huh
Absolutely stunning. Thank you for sharing these images.
These are really amazing! And quite haunting as well...
Coolness. Interesting that the let them wear their hat for the full length shot but took it off for the mug shot. Thanks!
GREAT PICS. IS THIS A BOOK I CAN PICK UP SOME WHERE?
This would make for either some stunning wedding photos or a provocative credit sequence. Nice find.
these are great! love your blog.
Extraordinary, beautiful, sad images.
Great blog!!
What a glorious website = thanks! Linda Allan
May Russell!!?? What on earth did SHE do? Shopping with Intent? Breaking and Luncheoning?
Where did these come from? A book? If so, I need it
What magnificent photos. I, too, love the full-length with hat across from the "mug" shot. (Some of them are posed as if they were doing a magazine shoot.) Such stories they tell. Thank you!
Those pictures are from the wonderful book "City of Shadows"
i love these and on the subject of great-grandfathers, patrick looks just like luke perry
I worry a little that the offspring of these people are still around. We sometimes forget that these were REAL people with rights to PRIVACY, especially if they did their time and paid their debt to society. Don't these guys have the right to rest in peace, rather than being remembered for one of the most humiliating times of their lives?
- Chris, A Melbourne-based photo historian.
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