From the loft

Photographed on the 14 May 1925 at the State reformatory for women, Long Bay

The process of photographing offenders upon their entry to prison is highly regimented. In the early 20th century images were taken from a specified distance and a measuring stand was included in every full-length portrait to indicate the offender’s height. From late 1923 onwards three images, detailing the face from the front, a side view of the head and a full-length portrait, were taken. Information regarding the prisoner’s weight, fingerprint classification and police reference number was inscribed on the glass negative. The most important rule was that the inmate was not to smile; their expression was to be neutral and they were not to consciously engage with the camera. Kathleen Ward broke this cardinal rule.

Ward was born in 1904 in Goulburn, a large settlement in southern New South Wales. Her criminal record sheet details prior convictions for drunkenness and indecent language that indicate she had a tendency to create mischief in public places. In 1925 she was convicted of theft and received a custodial sentence that was served at the State reformatory for women at Long Bay, 14kms south of the city of Sydney. Soon after her conviction this image was taken by the prison photographer using a now obsolete form of photographic technology that involved glass plate negatives and long exposure times, which relied on the subject remaining still or else the image appeared blurred.

Few forms of non-violent resistance were available to prisoners during the prison registration process. Ignoring the photographer’s instruction to remain still the smirking Ward is deliberately fluttering her eyes, making them appear eerily translucent in the photographic print. In the side view she appears to have closed her eyes for much of the exposure. This childish behaviour was her way of snubbing her nose at the authorities – she could be forced to have a photograph taken but she would do her best to render it useless. This type of mildly subversive behaviour can be seen in some of the informal mugshots taken by police, known as ‘special’ photographs, in which suspects refuse to open their eyes or continuously move in order to create a blurred image. Ward’s photograph is the first time I’ve detected this kind of behaviour in prison records.