MUG SHOT – guilty until proven innocent

‘MUG SHOT’ casts its gaze over the wide range of compulsory identity photography stored in historic archives around the world. Whether the individuals pictured were actually guilty criminals in the eyes of the law or innocent victims of persecution, racial agendas, political prisoners, or war camp internees, the legacy of bureaucracy does not seem to differentiate – our administrative records are filled with representations of persons who acted against those in charge. Compiled by Australian photographer and archivist Lucas Birk, all photographs appearing in this book are in the public domain.