Photographing prisoners: The unworthy, unpleasant and unchanging criminal body
| Author | Diana Miranda,Helena Machado |
| Published date | 01 November 2019 |
| Date | 01 November 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1748895818800747 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895818800747
Criminology & Criminal Justice
2019, Vol. 19(5) 591 –604
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1748895818800747
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Photographing prisoners: The
unworthy, unpleasant and
unchanging criminal body
Diana Miranda
Keele University, UK
Helena Machado
University of Minho, Portugal
Abstract
The use of photography in representing the criminal body has long been a focus of interest in the
social sciences, especially so when exploring the historical evolution of criminal identification
practices. By contributing to the emerging field of visual criminology, this article explores current
practices around photography of prisoners in the everyday contexts of the prison space. Drawing
on a qualitative study conducted with prisoners, prison guards and probation officers in three
Portuguese prisons, we analyse how different social actors construct the criminal body. This
construction is explored through the meanings attributed to prisoners’ photographic portraits used
for their identification. In particular, we discuss how their photographic documentation acts as a
classification device and a visual representation of the criminal. We argue that this representation,
by portraying elements of unworthiness, unpleasantness and immutability, plays a significant role in
the parole board’s decisions and produce an embodied sense of identity and perpetuation of stigma.
Keywords
Body, criminality, parole, photography, prison
Introduction
You can’t look good in the photo. This is a prison… we can’t look good. (Cesário, commenting
on the photograph that identifies him as prisoner no. 37)
Corresponding author:
Diana Miranda, School of Social Science and Public Policy, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG,
UK.
Email: d.c.d.miranda@keele.ac.uk
800747CRJ0010.1177/1748895818800747Criminology & Criminal JusticeMiranda and Machado
research-article2018
Article
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