Mug shot of Hampton Hirscham, Cornellius Joseph Keevil, William Thomas O'Brien and James O'Brien, 20 July 1921, Central Police Station, Sydney. Sydney Living Museums
New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive
The remarkable New South Wales Police Forensic Photography Archive is made up of approximately 130,000 negatives in both glass-plate and cellulose film formats, taken between 1910 and 1964.
The images in the archive document, in all their gritty and at times confronting detail, Sydney, Australia’s ‘Sin City’ – its people, their misfortunes and their crimes. Sydney Living Museums now shares images from this collection through exhibitions, books and online stories.
Related exhibitions & events
Mugshots: a gallery
See images directly sourced from our Pictures Catalogue. For the most recent research and stories, visit Underworld: Mugshots from the Roaring Twenties.