Forensic Photography
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The forensic photographer is essential to modern criminal investigation. You never read about the forensic photographer in Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, but we were led to believe that he had a photographic memory. Anyway, the forensic photographer is responsible for recording the scene of a crime, so that corpses can be removed and evidence disturbed.
The police rely on the forensic photographer to not only take photos of what they are told to, but to capture images of details that they think are important too. After all, an artist’s eye is trained for detail and his or her input can often be invaluable. These photographs will later be used in evidence in court and may decide a person’s future for decades to come. The forensic photographer will also take general photographs of the room or vicinity where a crime has taken place so that long after the area has been returned to its normal function, police officers can still ‘inspect’ the crime scene as it was ‘on the day’. It is a big responsibility not to miss anything that may later be deemed important.
It goes without saying that crime scene photography has to be of the highest technical quality, so that no detail is or can be overlooked. Therefore, the equipment and technical ability of the forensic photographer has to be of the highest order. Forensic Photography. There are actually at east two phases of crime scene forensic photography. The first is to take photos of the scene ‘as is’ and the second may be to ad measuring devices to show perspective, if it is not obvious. A familiar coin my be used to show the size of an item or a rule to show distance. One might easily think that the job of a forensic photographer is all photography, but that is not true. The forensic photographer must also annotate every shot so that when it is reviewed later, there can be no doubt of the provenance, angle, date and time or place that the photo was taken.
These notes will have to be recorded and affixed in some way or other to every picture. Backups will have to be taken and stored in a separate site, so that if there is a fire or theft of the originals, the police still have access to pictures of the scenes of crime. The job of the forensic photographer is interesting and well-paid, but it is not just a question of taking a few photos. There is also a lot of filing and record-keeping. However, those are the lighter sides f the job. We have not yet touched on the grizzly side of it. Forensic photographers will of necessity be one of he first officers on the scene of a crime and some crimes are horrific. Imagine for a moment, having to take photos of car crash victims or dead children or murdered and raped women. Or charred bodies after a house fire or suicides. The money may be good as a forensic photographer, but the only beauty queens you will be snapping will be dead ones.
