Round here we celebrate photographs. While they sometimes tell stories of love and laughter, they also sometimes tell stories of sadness, horror, or otherwise unsavory-ness. These mugshots of some of the most famous rock stars the world has ever known fall somewhere in between. Check out the confluence of stoicism, ego, and genius in this shot of Frank Sinatra (other greats from Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Sid Vicious, David Bowie, Axl Rose and a dozen others after the jump…]
These images clearly have cultural value. Are these portraits? Where does the mugshot fit along this spectrum?
So I ask you again. Are these portraits?
[and if, like me, you can’t get enough of these, head on over to HowToBeARetronaut to see Janis Joplin, Bill Gates, Jane Fonda, Kurt Cobain, Dennis Hopper, Woody Harrelson, and about a dozen others. Thanks FlavorPill for the tip.]
Those are quite well done portraits, but also little funny.
Great, now I want to be a cop too. 😉
These & the other retronaut mugs are all gritty, emotive, beautiful portraits. Joplin…
Time has given them great value, even though they weren’t originally meant to hold any esthetic or artistic traits.You gotta love them.
Also ,check these out : http://awesomepeoplehangingouttogether.tumblr.com/
These guys above and a bunch of other famous rockstars hanging out together.Some are really cool.
Much fun looking at these.
I think they are portraits. In a way more revealing than one’s they have done on a portrait session. The photos kinda give us a hint of their true character and personality especially the profile shots.
inge said it. as soon as i saw this i thought of the sydney “mugshots”. portraits, yes!