Edward Baker, arrested in 1900 for Burglary 2000.28.409 Exhibition Manual Organized and circulated by The OPP Museum Table of Contents 1. Using this guide…………………………………………………………….3 2. Introduction………………………………………………………………….4 3. Exhibition Quick Facts……………………………………………………..5 4. Exhibition Layout……………………………………………..…………….6 5. Exhibition Installation ………………………………………………….......7-8 6. Curator’s Comments………………………………………………………..9 7. Contact Information………………………………………………..……….10 8. Catalogue Information……………………………………………………...11 9. Condition Report Section…………………………………………………..12-19 Arresting Images: Mug shots from The OPP Museum Page 2 of 20 1. Using this guide This guide has been created to help facilitate the host venue (borrowing institution) in the uncrating and installation of Arresting Images: Mug shots from The OPP Museum. Exhibition Quick Facts, guidelines for the installation and exhibition layout plus background information on the curatorial approach, along with a complete inventory list is provided to inform the installation team. The suggested layout offers a template for installation, however, adaptation may be necessary to accommodate your specific gallery space. By following this guide, working through each section, we hope that you will find that the set up of Arresting Images is simple and straightforward. Please note that: • “The exhibition shall be presented in its entirety, without additions, amalgamations or omissions unless The OPP Museum has given prior written consent” • “No artifacts or educational exhibit components may be added or deleted without the express written permission of The OPP Museum" If you have any further questions during installation, please do not hesitate to call The OPP Museum at (705) 329-6889. Thank you. Arresting Images: Mug shots from The OPP Museum Page 3 of 20 2. Introduction Arresting Images is The OPP Museum’s inaugural travelling exhibition which is anticipated to make its way across Canada over many years. The exhibition profiles 100 mug shots dating from 1886 to 1908, selected from a collection of 474 mug shots, originally assembled by the Ontario Police in Niagara. The Ontario Police were the precursors to the Ontario Provincial Police who were formed in 1909. Arresting Images has been made possible through the generous sponsorship of the OPP Commissioned Officers’ Association as well as the financial support of the Government of Canada, Canadian Heritage, Museums Assistance Program. Once all the exhibition elements are uncrated, please perform the Exhibition Condition Report, note any missing or damaged items and forward a copy to the Museum within 72 hours of receipt of the exhibition. Arresting Images: Mug shots from The OPP Museum Page 4 of 20 3. Exhibition Quick Facts • This Travelling Exhibition shares with the public a rare collection of historical photographic portraits from The OPP Museum’s permanent collection. • The Exhibition provides a unique perspective on the social history of Ontario in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the practices of early policing in Ontario. • The Exhibition highlights historical themes and social circumstances of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the phenomena of photography, and the emerging use of photographic portraits as a police identification tool. • The Exhibition consists of 100 reproductions of criminal photo cards (mug shots), dating from 1886 to 1908, and an exhibit catalogue containing the details for each portrait and a discussion of themes being explored. • Mug shots are records that contain sensitive personal information. The curatorial selection of the featured photographs was a lengthy, careful process. • Each photograph is more than 100 years old. In each case, legal right of access was assessed and each individual and his/her story treated with care and compassion. • Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation and provincial archival guidelines were meticulously followed. No information concerning descendants is retained in the research relating to the collection. • Great care was taken to ensure that the Exhibition was representative of the cross section of age, gender, ethnicity, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds in the historic collection. • The Exhibition’s standards for research, design, publication and marketing reflect a clear commitment to the integrity of the historical record. Interpretive Objectives: 1. To highlight the photographic portraits with a commitment to maintaining the visual integrity of the images. 2. To highlight the stories of the individuals within the historical and social contexts with a commitment to the integrity of the mug shot as an historical document. Arresting Images: Mug shots from The OPP Museum Page 5 of 20 4. Exhibition Layout The sample layout is supplied in this package, however, you may need to alter the plan to accommodate your gallery’s specific character. It is important to note that several groupings must remain intact to coincide with the supplied extended labels. The various groupings are listed below with the corresponding numbers that match the exhibition contents. Please consult with The OPP Museum if your gallery space will not allow for the full number of mug shots to be exhibited and recommendations regarding display will be made. The various groupings are listed below, along with space requirements. Arresting Images space requirements Grouping Number of Groups Inches Required Total Inches 8’s 6 80 480 6’s 2 62 124 4’s 2 48 96 2’s 1 48 48 1’s 10 30 300 Enlargement +1 1 60 60 Enlargement +2 4 60 240 Total groups requiring visual space: 26 Total number display space 1348 inches (112 linear feet) If we assume 12” of visual space between groupings, add 26 feet Arresting Images: Mug shots from The OPP Museum Page 6 of 20 5. Installation Guidelines 1. The exhibition is designed to follow traditional installation procedures of centering all works or groups of works on a centre line. In these diagrams, the centre line is 56 inches from the floor. If your institution typically hangs works at a different centre line, then simply adjust the measurements up or down to match your desired centre line. 2. The mug shots are installed in either a single layer (large format or actual size mug shot with extended label) or in a double layer (in a grid format of groupings of 4, 6 or 8 units) 3. Because these groupings are made up of frames of all the same dimensions, they become quite efficient in hanging as you can simply mark out a rhythm of just a few alternating dimensions. Grid Dimensions Arresting Images: Mug shots from The OPP Museum Page 7 of 20 Large Mug Shot Dimensions Typical Installation Photos Arresting Images: Mug shots from The OPP Museum Page 8 of 20 6. Curatorial Comments Exhibition Curator (Jeanie Tummon) Arresting Images features 100 images (dating from 1886 to 1908) selected from a rare holding of 474 mug shots held by The OPP Museum. The mug shots literally came to light during a basement clean-up of OPP Niagara Falls District Headquarters when a large bound volume, entitled “Criminal Album…Ontario Police, Niagara Falls,” was discovered in 1965. The survival of this collection attest to an early recognition of its historic significance long before the Ontario Provincial Police created a museum. The mug shot, as we know it, had its beginnings in the early days of photography. In 1841, just two years after the invention of the daguerreotype, the Paris Police began to include daguerreotype portraits in their criminal files. In England, the Bristol gaol staff adopted the practice of photographing prisoners in 1848. Prison officials and police began to collect photographs of thieves and prostitutes as a way to identify and catalogue criminals. American and Canadian police and detective agencies were quick to follow suit. The mug shot was born. Care has been taken to reflect a representative cross-section of age, gender, culture, religious and socio-economic backgrounds in the mug shot selection. The age of the record has also been a factor in the selection – the mug shots are all 100 years old or older. Many of the photographs themselves are not standardized in terms of technique or convention. They represent an informal and organic documentation of suspects and criminals. The mug shots in The OPP Museum’s collection are striking, both in terms of portraiture and as historic records in their own right. The mug shot has been an important source of artistic inspiration and manipulation, perhaps most influentially by Andy Warhol in the 1964 “Most Wanted” series. Warhol’s work continues to help define portraiture. Many artists (including Canadians Arnaud Maggs and Angela Grossmann) have been inspired by suspect and prisoner identification portraits. The exhibition has been designed so that these compelling photographic portraits, by and large, speak for themselves. Associate Curator and Exhibit Designer (Timothy Laurin): One of my responsibilities as Associate Curator was to consider the overall aesthetics (branding) and design of the exhibition. In reproducing the mug shots great care was taken to accurately reproduce the colour, contrast and intensity to match the condition of the originals at the time of scanning. In some cases, I felt it necessary to “clean up” the image. Any foreign matter, such as a hair or lint that found its way onto the scanner, was removed before printing and in a few rare cases, I decided to correct an abrasion or imperfection that was deemed to be distracting to the photograph from a visual or aesthetic perspective. I felt it necessary to not alter the “patina” of the artefact, thereby trying to best reproduce the mug shot and leave its integrity of age intact. Arresting Images: Mug shots from The OPP Museum Page 9 of 20 7. Contact Information Jeanie Tummon Exhibition Curator The OPP Museum 777 Memorial Ave. Orillia, Ontario L3V 7V3 (705) 329 – 6889 [email protected] For further information about The OPP Museum check out the website www.opp.ca/museum Arresting Images: Mug shots from The OPP Museum Page 10 of 20 8.