Mug shot
A mug shot is a facial photograph taken immediately after one is arrested.
Commonly, the accused is asked to hold a card with their name and current date on it. Most mug shots are two-part, with one side-view photo, and one front-view.
The term derives from the American slang "mug" for "face." Therefore, the mug shot is a picture of a face. The purpose of the mug shot is to allow law enforcement to have a visual record of all arrested individuals to allow for identification by victims and identification of individuals using an alias. The phrase has also come to refer to any small picture of a face used for any reason.
The Smoking Gun website has an extensive selection of celebrity mugshots.
