criminals

The Faces of Female Nazi Concentration Camp Guards

The Faces of Female Nazi Concentration Camp Guards

These are photos of the female prison camp guards which were taken after the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp.while they were awaiting trail in 1945. Their sentences ranged from a few short years imprisonment to the death sentence. Here’s an interesting challenge, see if you can guess just by looking at the photos(…)

10 Moving Crime Scene Photos from the 1940s

10 Moving Crime Scene Photos from the 1940s

I hope you don’t think these photos are too macabre, but there’s something terribly poignant about seeing these ordinary domestic scenes which have been turned upside down by a tragedy or a moment of rage. Somehow the fact that the pictures are in black and white makes them more interesting, perhaps it gives them a(…)

22 Portraits of Female Criminals from the 1920s

22 Portraits of Female Criminals from the 1920s

They are an interesting collection of women who were all photographed in the custody of New South Wales police between 1916 and 1929. They range from notorious brothel madams, to bigamists, murderers, drug dealers, prostitutes and simply the unfortunate, like Kate Ellick who was sentenced to prison because her family were dead and she was(…)

Cocky, The Sunderland Kid and Fatty Potter – 1930s mugshots

Cocky, The Sunderland Kid and Fatty Potter – 1930s mugshots

I’m fascinated by old mug shots. I love the candid nature of them. They show ordinary people in their every-day clothes photographed perhaps for the first and only time in their lives. Some look worried, some look cocky, some just look pretty vacant (check out John Dodgson), but they’re all really interesting. I feel a(…)

The many hats of 1920s criminals

The many hats of 1920s criminals

I found these photos of 1920s criminals absolutely fascinating, partly because I think mug-shots make for really interesting candid photographs, but also because of the variety of different hats worn by the men in these photos. They were all taken in Calgary in 1920. What do you think they were arrested for? Number 6088 definitely(…)