The Closed Mouth

• One of the most anticipated events in the summer of 2023 was former President Donald Trump’s mug shot.
• Trump’s photo instantly generated a significant amount of media coverage and attracted public attention.
• It will likely be at least a decade or two before Trump’s mug shot’s significance truly registers with people.
• Long after the various trials come to conclusion, the mug shot will serve as a reminder of a particularly troubling time in American history.

From the 1840s to now

• French police were the first to produce mug shots using a daguerreotype camera as early as the 1840s.
• In order to avoid increased penalties for repeat offenses, criminals could try to change their appearance or give different names if arrested.
• Given its use over more than 150 years, the mug shot has an established association with criminality or, at the very least, suspicion of criminality.

Variations of mug shots

• By contrast, the mug shots of former Trump associates David Shafer and Jenna Ellis look more like family photos, with their wide eyes and toothy grins.
• Shafer’s and Ellis’ mug shots follow in the recent practice of others – typically celebrities or politicians – who have pushed back against traditional ideas of how mug shots should look.
• Socialite Paris Hilton also struck highly stylized poses for the camera during all three times she took mug shots following her arrests for drug possession and driving under the influence in the mid-2000s.

Mug shots influence culture

• Mug shots primarily serve as an official police identification record.
• But when mug shots are released publicly, they become part of a broader conversation about culture and society and can take on different meanings over time.
• Mug shots tap into a cultural fascination with crime and criminal justice, so it is no surprise that mug shots find their way into popular culture – especially when the subjects are famous people.
• The mug shots of mobster Al Capone and singer Frank Sinatra from the 1930s are still available on a wide range of commercial products, like shirts and hats.

Trump’s mug shot and its legacy

• Some – including Trump’s legal team – have said that Trump does not need to have a mug shot.
• I think that Trump’s mug shot is unlikely to sway the hardened views of his most ardent proponents and detractors.
• A mug shot won’t make Trump’s supporters think he’s a criminal, but it might encourage future generations to come to that conclusion.