The Usual Suspects: Old Sydney Police Mug Shots

These aren't stills or publicity photographs for a 1920s era gangster film. Instead, these astonishing images are actually mug shots and booking photographs from criminals arrested in Sydney and around New South Wales in the early decades of the 20th century.  

Apparently, the unnamed photographers working in Sydney's police station weren't contented with a simple pose against a plain wall when documenting these arrests. He, she or they thought it best to spend a few minutes posing these lawbreakers in a more tasteful way. 

The results of a few minutes of careful posing are these magnificent photographs you see here. Almost all of them are tack sharp, evenly lit and wonderfully composed.

These high quality images are available online as a result of a four year long study conducted by Peter Doyle. Mr. Doyle went over almost a hundred thousand glass plates and acetate negatives and these are just a fraction of the treasure trove of photographs he found and restored.

If not for the title and accompanying captions, you would think that these smartly dressed ladies and gentlemen were on their way to their offices or out on Sunday walk down the park. Save for a few pictures, there is little to suggest in the photographs themselves that these were convicts in a police station.

Going over a few of these images, it's not farfetched to say that these aren't just mug shots, but rather character portraits of the highest caliber. There is a certain kind of relationship between the photographers who were most likely police officers or professionals exclusively hired for the police station and the subjects who were guilty of different crimes.

Somehow, this relationship brought about by the presence of the camera makes for a beautiful and captivating set of images.

You can find more of these Sydney Police photographs and mug shots here (warning, the site is very image heavy, but it's well worth the wait). There is also a book available, entitled City of Shadows: Sydney Police Photographs 1912-1948. On a related note, you should also get Least Wanted and Prisoners: Murder, Mayhem, and Petit Larceny. If you have a few hours to spare, go over Peter Doyle's original essay on these booking photographs here.