The epaulette and the spider on the shoulders denote a high-ranking criminal. The text across the chest reads: ‘O Lord, forgive me for the tears of my mother’. On the right side of the bearers chest is tattooed 100-ruble note, usually signifying involvement in counterfeiting and commitment to criminal life.

Tattoos on the eyelids are made by inserting a metal spoon under the lid so that the ‘needle’ doesn’t penetrate the eye. Here the text reads ‘They’re / Sleeping’. It is common for this type of tattoo to personify the part of the body on which they appear, for example tattoos across the feet might say ‘They’re tired / of walking’.

The text on the ankle reads ‘100 thousand kilometers without a major overhaul’ (referring to the distance walked by the prisoner). The eye signifies that the bearer is always on guard. The thieves cross tattooed on the knee means ‘I will not kneel before the police’.

A group of convicts imprisoned for drug-related crimes. Convict (left) on both arms: ‘I live in sin / I die laughing’. Images of demons and monsters are intended to intimidate other inmates and give significance to the bearer within his circle. Convict (centre) German text below the neck: ‘God with us’; on the left arm: ‘Hurry up and live’. The sailing ship on the forearm signifies a lust for freedom and that the bearer is a potential escapee. Convict (right) on upper arm: ‘Keep love’; on forearm: ‘KRAB’: Klyanus Rezat Aktivistov i Blyadey (I swear to kill activists and sluts). The rose on the shoulder means that the bearer turned eighteen in prison.

The tiger and the text ‘Killer’ (in English) tattooed on the hand symbolise the bearer's aggression. His ring tattoos signify he is a high-ranking thief and an anarchist, who ‘will never be corrected’. In this colony they make and sell wooden items that are in great demand. He was killed by his fellow inmates for refusing to contribute money to the ‘community kitty’.

Women’s tattoos are distinguished by their sentimental nature. Lesbian relationships are common in female prisons; acronyms and phrases declaring undying love are popular. The text at the top reads: ‘If you want to grab grief – fall in with love me!’ and below ‘Let my love lie on your life like a tombstone’.

The epaulette tattooed on the shoulder, the thieves’ stars and religious tattoos on the chest all denote this thief’s high rank. The skull in the centre of the epaulette can be deciphered as: ‘I am not and will never be a slave, no one can force me to work’. ‘YK’ indicates the bearer has been through the ‘Intensive Colony’.

This photograph was taken in the Special Commandant’s office shortly before the end of the convict’s sentence. The roaring tiger is a symbol of the thief’s aggression, known as an oskal (bared teeth). It is common among convicts who are hostile to the authorities. The text below this tattoo reads ‘Man is wolf to man’. Text under the elbow reads ‘Death to the defeated ones’.

A palm tattoo from a convict detained in this famous prison (constructed in 1890). Beetles, ants, cockroaches, bumblebees, flies, and spiders (without cobwebs) are the symbols of pickpockets. Palm tattoos carrying texts of brief threats and insults (‘Shut up, bitch!’, ‘Beat the party activists!’) were widespread in the late 1940s and mid 1950s.

An authoritative, ‘legitimate’ thief. The tattoo on the chest is a portrait tattoo of a loved one, the text in the clouds left and right reads ‘Curse you Communists / for my wasted youth’. Text above reads ‘Give me freedom / I will become more honest’.

The knife through the neck shows that this criminal committed murder in prison and is available to hire for further murders. The drops of blood can signify the number of murders committed. The Latin text on the handle of the knife reads ‘As long as I breathe, I hope’.

The swastika in the thieves star tattooed on the knee is a symbol of aggression against the authorities. It means the bearer ‘will never be corrected’, and ‘it’s better to be in the SS than the Communist Party’. The fetters on the ankle signify a sentence of five years or longer, if they are broken it means the prisoner was on the run. The dagger through the fetter on the forearm symbolises revenge against the prosecutor.

Text across the chest reads ‘As long as I breathe, I hope’. The turbaned man clutching a knife in his mouth indicates an inclination to brutality, sadism, and a negative attitude toward activists – prisoners who openly collaborate with prison authorities (also often a pirate). The Latin text on the shoulder reads ‘Remember your mortality’.

German text across the chest reads ‘To each his own’. The SS insignia symbolise agression against the authorities. The Madonna and Child, depicted in the Orthodox tradition of icon painting, means ‘my conscience is clean before my friends’, and ‘I will not betray’.

A high-ranking, authoritative thief. In the early 1950s, it became customary for thieves to tattoo dots or small crosses on the knuckles, the number of dots indicating the number of terms. The punishment for the slightest attempt to position oneself as a legitimate or to wear an undeserved tattoo was severe. At best, the tattoo would be removed with sandpaper or a razor, but it was not uncommon for the offender to be raped or killed. Convicts were even punished for tattooing more dots on their hands than sentences they had served, or for wearing a ring tattoo with the symbol of a crime they hadn’t committed. German text on the top of his right arm reads ‘God with us’. Latin text on the forearm ‘Remember your mortality’. Text on the fingers of the left hand reads ‘BARS’: (literally ‘lynx, snow leopard’), Bey Aktiv, Rezh Suk (beat up activists, kill bitches); underneath this ‘No Salvation, No Happiness’.

Prison is this thief’s home, he is of the highest rank in the thieves’ social hierarchy. His ring tattoos show that he was the only underage detainee in his circle of thieves, and that he is an ‘anti-social’: an inveterate transgressor of the prison regime, who completely refuses to work. The text on the arm reads ‘Communism only produces victims’.