… the Photography Section, poked away with the sparrows on the top of the Headquarters Building, is the pride of the whole force.
Truth (Sydney), 30 November 1924
The images captured on the glass-plate negatives were intended to be printed as closely cropped identification mugshots showing the suspect’s face and build. Knowing this, the police photographer often did not bother to move his bag and occasionally his hat out of the frame. These little personal relics of the man behind the camera make many cameos in the Specials.
Join Bruce Smythe Senior Project Designer, as he takes us behind the scenes of the design of our 'Underworld: mugshots from the Roaring Twenties' publication