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.]
The all have one thing in common (besides Frank), very dilated pupils! I can’t believe that they let Elvis keep his shades on 😛
So interesting. I suppose we would first have to define what we mean by portraits. But in a general sense, I would say they’re portraits.
maybe run them through Portrait Professional and make them supermodels 😉
Only Elvis can pull off wearing sunglasses for a mugshot/portrait. Long live the King.
The mug shot of a youthful Jane Fonda resembles Katy Perry.