A mug shot is a police photograph taken of someone who's been arrested. Most mug shots are taken as soon as a suspect is brought into a police station, and they don't tend to be flattering.

MUG SHOT – guilty until proven innocent throws an eye on the wide range of forced identity photography we have stored in our historic archives. Whether these were of actual guilty criminals in the eyes of the law or innocent victims of persecution, racial agendas, political prisoners or war camp inmates. Our administrative records are filled to the brim with these representations of the person who acted against those in charge.

“In short, the mug shot is a tool of power used by law enforcemen. From its origins in 19th-century criminology to its modern use as a means of public shaming, the mug shot has always been more than just a method of identification. It has served as a mechanism through which individuals, particularly those from marginalized communities, are stripped of their agency and reduced to a single, often dehumanizing, image.”
- Lukas Birk