From the loft

Prisoner identification photographs make up many of the earliest negatives in the collection. Photographed in various institutions across New South Wales the negatives usually record a full frontal and profile view of the prisoner.

Assistant Curator Nerida Campbell’s current research centers on retelling the stories surrounding women convicted on a range of offences who served time at the State Reformatory for Women, Long Bay.

The Long Bay negatives, as with much of the archive, are found stacked in the original film manufacturers packaging. Photographers of the time chose to reuse these perfect sized boxes for storage of the exposed negatives. They also added their own numbering system to the boxes. The bold ‘LB’ prefix stamped on the cardboard end indicates the prison of origin, in this case Long Bay, and the digits indicate identification numbers for the prisoners within.

Some plates were not in original boxes but the women can easily be identified as Long Bay inmates by the ‘LB’ prefix inscribed onto the emulsion. This inscription usually also includes the name and date details vital for retracing the criminal history of the sitter.

The 434 individual Long Bay negatives created between 1915 and 1930 were used to record the inmate’s identity on each prison record sheet. Between some of the oldest glass plate negatives we were fortunate enough to find corresponding contact prints. In total 48 photographic prints, often discoloured, folded or faded, were found. These photographs are printed to a scale that is just big enough to frame the sitters face, 9 x 5.5 cm or less. Contact prints are made by placing the negative directly over the photographic paper prior to exposure resulting in a 1:1 positive print after processing.

The working context for the negatives was highlighted further when we also discovered charge sheets, complete with prisoner details, in the State Records Authority of New South Wales holdings. In the case of May Brown we are able to view the two full frame negatives, contact prints and then selected prints affixed to the criminal record sheet. A lovely insight into how the Department of Prisons actually used the photographic medium and how different the final, functional form of the portrait appears from the negative version.

To find out more about May Brown and those who shared the cells at Long Bay keep an eye on Nerida’s posts or visit the current exhibition on at the Justice and Police Museum, Femme Fatale: the female criminal.