MARKS, MOLES & SCARS

© 2011

ampersand

all rights reserved

April 27 to May 23, 2011

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Mug Shot Photographs, 1899 to 1923

Opening Party Thursday, April 28, 6 to 10PM

Drinks Courtesy of Ninkasi Brewing Co.

Our side show in May concerns itself with a specific kind of photographic taxonomy, that of the physical features that help distinguish one human being from another, as recorded by mug shots & measurements. Marks, Scars & Moles features a selection of mug shots taken around 1900 in Kansas City, MO & others taken in California in the 1920s. The former are unique in that they feature Bertillon Measurements, the system created by the French police officer, Alphonse Bertillon, as a way to scientifically standardize the identification of criminals. Anthropometry, as it was called, proved to be flawed, in part because a criminal's measurements changed with time, but mainly because it depended upon an officer accurately recording a criminal's features. Unlike the fallibility of an officer, the camera, it is assumed, accurately records the features of one's face. Criminal records aside, the police camera seems also to record an essence beyond mere facial features, making mug shots a fascinating type of portrait photography. The sitter looks directly into your eyes &, staring back, you are mesmerized by a glint of what he or she is thinking.