Prisoner 298 c.1903

In 1897, Maynard began receiving commissions from the Victoria Police Department to photograph the mug shots of persons placed under arrest. Maynard photographed prisoner 298 in a style not unlike the one she used for the sitters who paid for their portraits at her studio. A clear and detailed likeness, what this portrait hides is the story of a prisoner charged with attempted murder after demanding money from the till of a saloon and firing four shots at its proprietor. (Only one shot, non-fatal, hit its target.)

Most of the images Maynard produced for the Victoria Police Department offer a forward facing or three-quarter view of the sitter. But for several images produced between 1902 and 1903, including the photograph above—Prisoner 298—Maynard used a mirror to combine both views into a single image. This technique was one that Maynard had used in her studio portraits. For example, in a photograph of her daughter Lillie washing her hands, the photographer places a mirror in the scene to show the girl’s profile along with the back of her head. Maynard also placed mirrors on the ground to create water-like reflections of children posed in outdoor scenes.

In the late nineteenth century, Victoria was a city in flux, with constant inflows of migrants from across the globe. It was also a crucial stop for miners and prospectors heading into the Klondike. The ever-changing nature of the city’s population made it a hotbed for crime, and the city’s Police Department, established in 1858, used photography as a means to profile the city’s criminal element.

Mug shots were often the subject of sensationalized interest, especially in instances where the crime was particularly heinous or unusual. Maynard, for example, took the mug shot photograph of Belle Adams, one of Victoria’s most scandalous murderers, between 1897 and 1904. In 1898, Adams was convicted of murdering a man with a razor. The murder, and subsequent trial and conviction, was extensively covered in the Daily Colonist. The June 4, 1898, issue features the catching headline, “By a Woman’s Hand. Charles Kincaid the Victim of His Mistress’ Jealous Rage. A Johnson Street Hotel the Scene of the Awful Crime,” and goes on to describe the way Adams “half-severed” the head of her married lover.

Maynard’s photograph of Adams presents a composed and thoughtful-looking young woman wearing an elaborate dress and an even more elaborate hat. The portraits of Adams, prisoner 298, and many others are composed with Maynard’s typical skill. There is nothing stark or confrontational about them, as we might expect. If it weren’t for their inclusion in the police record book, we’d never suspect they portrayed criminals.