More Mugshots

A few months ago I posted portraits done from mugshots of famous criminals. The idea behind those portraits was an exploration of the expressions and faces of the people. Their crimes were dreadful ones that resulted in widespread publication of their respective likenesses, adding to the challenge. Getting a good likeness of a very familiar face is often difficult. It was interesting to muse about what thoughts and emotions might have been behind their facades. Mugshots are public domain (governmental photos) so their use is fair game. Here are two more.

"Caril Ann," oil, 12x16

The first portrait is Caril Ann Fugate who was part of the multistate crime spree of Charles Starkweather, whose mugshot portrait dates to the same year as this one. (The portrait of Mr. Starkweather was posted previously.) Ms. Fugate was dating Starkweather in 1958 when he was 18 and she 14. He murdered her family and told her they were being held hostage so she must do what he said. After several days staying in her house they fled with the family car, eventually killing six more people. Starkweather was executed and Ms. Fugate received a life sentence, eventually being paroled after serving seventeen years. This portrait was done not from her police mugshot but from a snapshot widely published during the manhunt for the pair. She is shown in the black and white photo grinning because she's just gotten a new winter coat. The snap was taken only a few days or weeks before the notorious crime spree. Their crimes later inspired several movies. The snapshot reference was made with flash, but even so Ms. Fugate showed an artless girlishness that I tried to capture, especially her sad smile.

"Richard Reid, the Shoe Bomber," oil, 11x14

The second portrait posted here was made using an actual mugshot for reference. This is Richard Reid, the British Islamic terrorist also known as "the shoe bomber," because of his attempt to detonate a bomb concealed in his tennis shoes while aboard a flight from Paris to Miami in 2001, not long after the Twin Towers attack. This particular portrait was done rapidly not very long afterward. Reid was convicted of multiple charges and received a triple life sentence. His mugshot shows a somewhat plumper fellow, but it was the dazed look in his eyes that interested me more. It turns out that he had been injected with a tranquilizer while still aboard the flight, after being subdued.This particular painting was done alla prima in under an hour, but the portrait of Ms. Fugate involved multiple layers and several painting sessions.

Mugshots continue to be exceptionally interesting to me, as do news photos. Some could even become tronies I think. Perhaps more are to come.
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Mugshots
Tronies