This is a prisoner portrait of Alphonse Capone, better known as Scarface, who was arguably America’s most famous gangster. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
Urvi Bhanushali looks back at the dark side of portraiture, with prisoner portraits shot just before the criminals went to jail.
This story was originally published in August 2014.
Novelist Doug Coupland had once said, “We are rapidly approaching a world comprised entirely of jail and shopping.” If that is the case, then it is only natural for prisoner portraits to be in existence, and of such importance. Prisoners holding a numbered placard, some with fear in their eyes, some with an uncaring smirk, have all found their place in history through the portraits that are shot when they first enter prison.
What is it that is so captivating in each of these photographs? Why do we stare at these pictures? Have you ever walked through the hallway in a police station with mugshots of wanted criminals and arrested gangsters staring at you? Have you observed similar pictures of celebrities when they have got into trouble with the law? A practice that began in the 1800s, each prisoner portrait has a story behind it, and that is what makes the concept of prisoner portraits so compelling.
The first few prisoner portraits were shot even by gardeners!
Scattered Experiments
Prisoner photography began as an experiment. The idea of using photography to identify and record each prisoner started around 1844 in Belgium. There was no professional photographer, no professional equipment or any kind of techniques involved.
Absolutely anyone who was available was called to shoot these photographs and the framing was inconsistent. On some days, prisoners were photographed by amateur photographers, and some days were even clicked by a gardener! In essence, the efforts of taking such photographs were pretty scattered till the 1850s.
Initially, photographing prisoners were frowned upon by the prison authorities in other countries. However, over time, the idea gained a lot more acceptance and prisoner portraits were shot in places like Paris, Spain, Germany and Italy. By the late 1870s, this process gained some pace. Soon enough, suggestions and discussions began on how to make this entire exercise structured and more consistent.
At this time, prisoner portraits were only shot in the big cities. Funnily, this was because it was believed that the urban criminals were more dangerous than the rural ones, and so keeping a tab on urban prison inmates was of more importance. This period also saw the idea that only individuals who were arrested for serious crimes were suppose to have their photo made and archived.
Birth of the Mugshot
As prisoner portraits gained popularity, the police had to figure out how to organise the images and archive them. Many police departments were getting into trouble, trying to maintain the records of an ever increasing number of detainees. Initially, an attempt was made to sort the records by classifying the type of crime but that did not work well as some people were booked for multiple crimes.
Finally, in 1882, French police officer Alphonse Bertillion, devised the idea of arranging criminal records according to the anthropometric data, or the physical attributes of any human individual. Bertillion also proposed the use of fingerprints, which could then be matched with each prisoner portrait. This system was named after him and called Bertillonage.
Another thing that happened was the introduction of the concept of mugshots. The US-based Pinkerton National Detective Agency were the first ones to create mugshots that were inspired by the style and look of ‘WANTED’ posters.
A lot of attention is dedicated to viewing prisoner portraits of celebrities who get in trouble with the law.
Digital Killed the Iconic
In modern times, the significance of prisoner portraits has changed quite a bit. People are now more interested in looking at mugshots of famous people in their most vulnerable moments. In fact, there are some popular websites like www.thesmokinggun.com that have dedicatedly uploaded mugshots of actors, politicians and musicians, right before they are taken to jail.
Modern-day prisoner portraits are digitised. The accused do not hold placards anymore because all their details are directly linked to the police department’s database. However, it cannot be denied that the most iconic prisoner portraits have been the old ones with a famous personality carrying a placard that bears their name—a visual that is often spoofed even today.
Famous Prisoner Portraits
