The first photos of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords since she was shot in the head in a mass shooting in Tucson about five months ago have been released. The photos, which appeared on her Facebook page Sunday morning, show a smiling woman with a short haircut. There are no clear signs of scarring.

The photos were taken on May 17 at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital, where Giffords continues to undergo rehabilitation. It was the day after she attended the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, which her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly commanded, and the day before she underwent skull surgery.

Two photos were released. One shows Giffords alone. smiling directly into the camera, and in the other, she is shown with her mother, Gloria Giffords.

"It was very inspiring to see how much she had recovered in 4 1/2 months," photographer P.K. Weis of SouthwestPhotoBank.com said in a statement to CNN. "I was excited to see her and to see her smile. She was glad to see me, was in a good mood, smiling and laughing and seemed to enjoy the experience. I certainly did, too."

Weis, who's known the congresswoman for more than a decade, told CNN that Giffords' "staff asked me to do it because she wanted someone who was not a stranger -- someone she would be comfortable around. The photos were taken in her room and in an outside area of the hospital."

Giffords could be released to an outpatient treatment center later this month, but her chief of staff, Pia Carusone, said that cautioned that Giffords still has a long way to go in her recovery.

The only previous image of Giffords since the shooting was a grainy photograph taken in April when she boarded a private aircraft en route to Florida to watch her husband launch into space. That launch was delayed.