If you thought it was fun to see celebrities with make unders, how about taking a look at some of today’s stars who’ve been transformed into criminals from the 1920s? Art director and current advertising student Michael Jason Enriquez gives us a glimpse of this doctored reality by combining the real-life mugshots of celebrities who’ve had run-ins with the law with a slew of vintage police record photos of gangsters and crooks from the early 20th century in Australia.
From Lindsay Lohan and Mel Gibson to Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Phil Spector, the series titled Mugshot Doppelgnger covers all celebrity grounds. Each of their sullen, sometimes awkwardly grimacing faces are superimposed on the old, monochromatic mugshots, providing an interesting juxtaposition. Oddly, they seem to work seamlessly, which is perhaps a testament to Enriquez’s photo manipulation skills. They are unlike the hoards of celebrity mugshots we’re exposed to today, on what seems like a daily basis. There’s an artistic quality to them.
Enriquez says, “There’s a strange connection that draws us into vintage photographs. Seeing doppelgngers (look-a-likes) in old pictures is our brain’s way of linking us to the past. We see what isn’t there – someone recognizable, a family member, maybe a friend, and then there are the ones that bear an uncanny resemblance to modern day celebrities. We’re so used to seeing celebrity faces on our TV, on blogs, and we even know what their mugshots look like. The tacky looking mugshots we have today are in stark contrast to the mugshots taken in the 1920’s. Vintage mugshots have an eerie beauty to them that’s lost in current mugshot photography.”
The series can be found on Tumblr where stories and pictures, including mugshots, of these celeb darlings circulate regularly. The original photos of the 1920s mugshots can be found at the Historic Houses Trust.
Michael Jason Enriquez website
Mugshot Doppelgnger on Tumblr
via [Beautiful Decay]