These delightfully sensitive portraits of fellow prisoners are believed to have been taken in Camp 59 by Denis Crooks. Denis’ daughter, Maggie Clarke, found the photos among his papers after Denis passed away.

Unfortunately, we do not know the identities of these fellows, but their personalities shine brightly through these photographs.

The eighteen men who posed for the two photographs above are likewise a mystery to us.

Note that the group shots at first seem nearly identical. But two men standing in the center have switched—the man immediately in front of the tree trunk at center in the first photo is absent from the second photo, and in the second photo a new man has joined the group.

The man standing fifth from the left in the first photo has moved back a row in the second photo to make room for the newcomer.

Were the two men who switched places the photographers, and did they switch places so that both would be included in one of the shots?

Is the man in front of the tree trunk in the first photo Denis Crooks? See the post “Denis Crooks—Prisoner Poet” for a photograph of Denis.