In mugshots that have gone viral, Luigi Mangione is unsmiling, staring straight at the camera or in sharp profile. His face is stubbled with an incipient beard and his eyes are narrowed, reports the Baltimore Sun.
The ideal, according to the FBI's in its Mugshot Implementation Guide, is to capture a suspect's appearance while remaining emotionally neutral. Yet experts say that small variations in photography make a difference. can convey different images. "I could show you five different photos of the same person taken by five investigative agencies and they would all look different,” said retired New York City detective Scot Rosenthal. “Some might show facial blemishes, while others might not.” Cases where that went too far include cases where mugshot artists removed facial tattoos, to better match with a witness drawing.
The photo of Mangione wearing a navy jumpsuit departs from the FBI guidelines, according to Bill Gaskins, the founder and director of MICA’s Photography + Media & Society program, because a bright light to Mangione’s left appears to throw the opposite side of his face into shadow, an effect associated with something obscured or hidden from view. “His eyes also imply a low camera angle that require his chin to be at a higher angle than normal,” Gaskins said. “That could be read as an arrogant expression." A slight up or down angle can create shadows that read as ‘sinister’ even with standardized lighting. Compare, then, a souped-up version of the same mug, which makes Mangione look saintly. It was altered in an Instagram image created by the Egyptian graphic artist Mohamed Gadelrab. Experts say that , taken together, they are a good example of how mugshots are framed in a way that has the potential to sway the sympathies of today’s viewers — and tomorrow’s jurors.
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