From Dragonfly: Smile

Hair - check. Nicest t-shirt - check. Make-up - check. Perhaps some glitter on face - check. Best gym shoes - check. Best fitting sweat pants - check. Best pal - check. Brushed teeth - check. Tickets - check.

It's photo days in prison. Every Saturday and Sunday at indoor rec, inmates line up for getting photos taken. There are countless backgrounds (although only one is set up for the weekend), and the photos are taken on basic digital cameras (no fancy stuff here). Work-out equipment is used for sitting and other poses (like a stepper is perfect as a bench). And, once you are all set up - SMILE!

Tickets for photos are sold at the commissary for $1 each. You wait about 2-3 weeks for your printed photo - just one per ticket. Multiple poses are only allowed with multiple tickets. You do not get to just select your best shots, so smile big, lift up that chin, don't look off at the person on the exercise cycle, give those smiling eyes to the camera. If you want sexy, only one butt cheek (fully clothed) can show and the rest of you must be viewable. You may not wear shorts, it's sweats or your khaki pants. No bearing any skin, other than your face and your arms.

Pictures are taken with roommates, buddies, girlfriends, groups, and by oneself. Many pics tend to be taken right before someone is about to leave. People send the photo home so that their family can make copies for everyone in the picture. Pictures by oneself is usually for someone back home (I took one to send to my mom a couple months ago) or for someone's sweetheart in here. The pictures are nothing fancy, but it is a time when we see some people smile for the first time!

A lot of inmates don't have many teeth, though. Too many years of drugs and other issues have rotted them out. They tend to smile without opening their mouths. Some have dentures, others wait more than 5 years to get their new teeth. They still smile for pictures!

As for me, I've only done photos a couple of times. There's the photos I've taken in visitation, but that's with family and friends. I took a couple pictures with South. One she didn't smile, so I kept pushing on her side the second time, and I got a big smile that time. Last night, I took pictures with Lola and Taz. They should be fun. I prefer upper body only, and certainly, not sexy. But, to each their own!