“Chin down. Don’t move your body. Perfect! Now with your eyes, I want you to squinch just slightly. That’s it, my friend. Looking good!”
Photographer Alma Bruffy gently slung orders as she stood behind a camera and a man in a suit jacket, dress shirt and tie stood before her, moving on command.
A program in Fort Myers aimed to get people with misdemeanor or felony convictions into jobs.
Mugshots to Headshots made available the clothes, the interview tips, the resume ideas, and most important, the professional headshot photographs that the formerly incarcerated can use in job searches as well as social media sites such as LinkedIn.
It’s a passion project for photographer Bruffy, who lives in south Fort Myers.
“The reason I am doing this is because the people that need it the most, those folks that are coming back from either receiving charges -- convictions of felonies or misdemeanors -- or they have been incarcerated, they are often found unable to restore their lives without gainful employment. And I think that is very, very sad. They're a part of our community that we kind of forget about,” Bruffy said.
“And these folks may have paid their dues. They may have served long sentences and are ready to rebuild their lives, but unfortunately, every door is closing for them when it comes to being able to support their families and themselves.”
The reason I am doing this is because the people that need it the most, those folks that are coming back from either receiving charges -- convictions of felonies or misdemeanors -- or they have been incarcerated, they are often found unable to restore their lives without gainful employment. And I think that is very, very sad. They're a part of our community that we kind of forget about.Alma Bruffy, photographer
Resumes with professional headshots get more jobs, Bruffy contended.
She knows first-hand the difficulty that those who’ve been arrested can face.
“In 2011 I was arrested, and I was given a very high bond,” she said. “So unfortunately, I had to serve jail time, and upon reentering the community, I found it extremely difficult, extremely. I couldn't even get a job cleaning homes. You know, I have a college degree, and nobody seemed to care.”
Jessica Wylie of Fort Myers got out of prison five years ago and hasn’t been able to find a job, despite applying to at least 40 places, she said.
With nine felony convictions, she hopes Mugshots to Headshots will be a game changer for her.
“I feel like there's so many people in the community that have changed their lives and their path, that they're going on, or they may have made mistakes, and they've come back around full circle. And I just feel that everybody kind of deserves a second chance," Wylie said. "And I think that headshots could really benefit people that are in my shoes, because there's so many of us that I've met that have made some mistakes in our lives, and we are actually beautiful people, and we have a lot to offer society, and we're just trying to be more involved, and we need kind of a step up.”
Wylie’s life followed a path Bruffy warns about — and is one of her motivations for setting up the program.
“This is the biggest thing, I think, is bringing attention to recidivism,” Bruffy said. “That's ultimately what happens. These folks get out, and then they can't find employment, and then sometimes they end up committing the same crime, maybe, or they can't pass their probation, because that costs money, and if they can't, you know, pay their costs and their fines. Often they get reincarcerated, and it's a revolving door.”
That’s what happened with Wylie. She spent six years in prison and ended up back in Lee County Jail. “and I resulted to old behaviors due to no income," she said. "And I started having to do illegal things to support myself. I’m not proud of that. At all.”
That so often happens, said Bruffy, due to a lack of resources and a break from an employer.
That’s what she hopes to change with Mugshots to Headshots.
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