Customer Reviews

Prisoners: Murder, Mayhem, and Petit Larceny

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The story of how Arne Svenson found the glass negatives used to produce the images in his book Prisoners is wonderfully told. He discovered a few in an antigue store and was able, over the next few years, to track down hundreds more of these compelling images. The faces of the prisoners pictured so haunted him that he set out to discover who each man was, even though the photographs had been taken nearly 100 years previous. The information he discovered is extensive; through newspaper and legal records of the day he was able to reconstruct the crimes of each of these men. The stories are riveting; a boy of 14 accused and convicted of murder, a one-armed drifter jailed for stealing a blanket, an elderly opium fiend run out of town. But what I found even more moving than the sad stories of these men were the photographs of them. They look more like portraits than mug shots, I find myself going back to look at these faces over and over again. A thoroughly enjoyable and thought provoking book. Hopefully Svenson will stumble across another cache of fascinating images soon!

This is just the kind of morbid and intensely nostalgic book that I expect to write someday. Arne Svenson stumbled upon an incredible cache of abandoned glass plate negatives in an old building in Marysville, California (quite close to the Castle DeSpair, incidentally), many of which were old prisoner photographs that had been taken by town photographer Clara Smith when under contract with the city between 1900 and 1908. Her office had been in the building, which was set to be demolished, which explains why Svenson stumbled upon such a golden cache. The best thing about these pictures was that the name of the criminal and their alleged offence had been scratched directly onto the plates - which allowed a great opportunity for further investigation. By searching crumbling old Marysville newspapers and San Quentin prison records, Svenson was able to piece together the stories behind many of the images - 70 of which are presented in this fascinating book. Unfortunately, many of the stories are of the Petty Larceny variety, rather than the much more interesting murder/assault variety, and that prevents the book from getting a five-star rating on the Morbid-O-Meter, but for fans of prison historical documents and old newspaper clippings, this is quite a find. Due to the photographer's experience in portraiture, most of the images have more of a portrait gallery feel than a mug shot feel, which adds to their period mystique. A beautiful work.

They stare back from the dead. Some have those glassy bloodshot eyes eyes filled with sin. The eyes are the first thing that struck me. Those creepy glassy eyes as though they've been in some smoke filled room (Hell's Furnace ?). You can almost smell their clothing and their body odor. You have seen them they look like the people that bum money from you at the Gas Station. Almost all wear crumpled hats and most wear ties with their greasy rags. These photo's were taken at the turn of the last century. These were tough hardscrabble people who founded our state. It took people like these tame California back then. These definitely are not sissys or wussies. Their stories are interesting a spurned lover a homesick boy. These stories bring to me an interest in early California. I found myself looking up Maryville / Yuba Ca. This book shows the real side of California back then. A time where rough people lived in a rough town.