The Smoking Gun published a new mug shot of Charles Manson earlier and I have trouble looking at it. Not because it reminds me of his barbarous acts, but because it reminds me of the humanity within even the monsters of our world. Even with that swastika permanently etched into his forehead, I have trouble looking at this picture and not feeling sorrow and pity.

The worst part is that I know this is a man completely undeserving of pity or sorrow, yet his cracked skin, his broken expression, his aging face all call to me to have those feelings. Photography has the power to imbue its subject with more than it deserves.

Those natives had the wrong idea. Photography doesn’t steal your soul, it preserves it. It puts it out there for everyone to see, even if they don’t want to.