J.H.

CERILLES STATE COLLEGE

Mati, San Miguel, Zamboanga del Sur
School of Criminal Justice Education

HAND -OUTS IN FORENSIC 1

OVERVIEW

Photography is a part of the process of evidence collection which

provides the investigators with photos of bodies, places or items involved in
the crime which sometimes is referred to as crime scene photography.

It is an art of producing an accurate reproduction of crime scene for

the benefit of a court. It involves choosing correct lighting, accurate angling
of lenses, and photographing different viewpoints often with the use of
scales during the taking of photograph so that dimensions of items are
recorded on the image.

Basic Facts on Forensic Photography

Learning Essentials
Brief Background on Forensic Photography
The earliest photographs of criminals and suspects were crude and rough.
A French photographer Alphonse Bertillon introduced the use of proper
lighting, scale and angles to guarantee reliability of identification. He suggested
anthropological studies of profiles and full-face shots (mug shots) to identify
criminals. Bertillon, influenced by Darwinian Theory assumed that criminals
physically are distinguishable from non-criminals through stereo-type looks (skin
color. Hair color, body type and more). It also includes taking pictures of the
victim’s scars, wound, birthmarks, etc., for the purpose of identification or
conviction.

Forensic photography may also mean a process of taking photographs of

suspects, criminals and the crime scene for the purposes of identifying,
documenting and convicting suspects/ criminals through legal proceedings.
Generally, forensic police photography is applied to the following:

1. Forensic photography applied to suspects and Criminals

Photographic documentation of prison inmate’s dates back to 1843-

44 in Belgium and 1851 in Denmark which were taken by amateurs,
commercial photographers, and even policemen or prison officials.
Photographs ranged from mug shots, to prisoners in their cells.

As the number of criminals zoomed high, so did the number of

photographs and organizing and sorting these photographs became a
problem. In response to this problem, collection of photographs of
criminals and suspects were classified according to types of offenses
called the “Rogues Galleries” which was found first in Birmingham,
England in the year 1850.

2. Forensic Crime Scene Photography. Crime Scene Photography: is the taking of pictures
of the scene of crime which include the placement
of objects, position of the body, evidence and
fingerprints, the general view of crime scene with
proper measurements and scaling.
 It involves documenting the
scene of the crime, rather
than the criminal.

With the advent of technology like digital photography, forensic

photography continues to advance also by using infra-red and ultra-violet light
used for tracing minute physical evidences, photographic of fingerprints, tiny
blood samples and many other things.

History of Photography
Photography is a combination of the sciences of
optics and of chemistry. The term photography was
Photograp
coined by Sir Jhon Herschel, in 1839 when photographic hy
process became public. The word is derived from The Camera
Greek words “photos” which means light and “graphos” Film
which means “to write, to draw or to sketch”.

Photography was not discovered or invented by any one man but it is the
result of investigation and discovery, either intentional or by accident.

Pinhole: is a carefully made perfectly Pinhole. The discovery happened when a darkened
room’s shutter curtains happen to have a small hole.
smooth and circular hole, from 1/50 th to
This allows the rays of the light striking a tree to enter
1/100th of an inch in diameter,
the room through the pinhole bringing the image of a
determined by comparing the size of the tree reflected on the opposite wall. This is the principle
opening with needles of standard sizes. of the “pinhole” camera.
Alhazen (Ibn Al-Haytham) invented the
pinhole camera (a simple light-tight box
bearing a pinhole that captures an image).
The image formed by a pinhole is not
critically sharp; it gives a pleasing softness.

From the pinhole, the angle of view varies

according to the distance- at a greater
distance a narrower angle of view is included
Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/hezBXpAuN4QYoNTS9 than when the plane of focus is nearer the
pinhole.

Camera Obscura, means “a dark

room”, was invented by Giovanni Battista
Della Porta in 1569. This invention was the
logical outcome of the improving the
crudeness of image produced by pinhole
camera. Affixing a glass lens, the hole
larger which made the picture sharper and
clearer and of course, in natural colors.
Later on, it became a small, light-tight room
with a doom ceiling. The lens was placed in
a movable box in a center of the dome and Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/YEgqneYRq8avK3xu5
the image was reflected downwards by
means of a mirror onto a circular disk.

The next step in the history of photography was the desire to find means
of “fixing” a picture permanently on paper or on some other support, and this
brought about the investigation of the action of light on various chemicals.

On a summer day in 1827, it took eight hours for Joseph Nicephore Niepce
to obtain the first fixed image. About the same time a fellow Frenchman, Louis
Jacques Mande Daguerre was experimenting to find a way to capture an image.
 Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre (Nov. 18, 1787- July 10, 1851) was a
French artist and chemist, recognized for his invention of daguerreotype process
of photography. His experiment led to collaboration with Niepce which resulted
to the creation of Daguerreotype.

To create the image on the plate, it must be

Daguerreotype: were the forerunners of
exposed to light for about 15 minutes. The
our modern film. It was made of a use of it had gained popularity until it was
copper plate coated with silver and replaced in the late 1850s by emulsion
exposed to iodine vapor before it was plates.
exposed to light.
Daguerreotype was usually a portrait.
Daguerre first exposed silver –coated
copper plates to
iodine, obtaining silver iodine. Then he exposed them to light at 75 degrees
Celsius and finally fixing the image in salt producing a mirror – like reproduction
of the scene. The Daguerreotype was the Polaroid of today.

In 1841 the use of Daguerreotype (an early form of photographs of known

criminals for the purpose of identification) became well known as a means of
identifying criminals.
In 1879 photographs of an injured person in an auto accident was
admissible in evidence. The photograph was a tintype, a photograph made on a
thin iron plate kwon as collodion process.

Henry Fox Talbot influenced by the Daguerre’s invention worked on

perfecting his own process. Talbot had invented the Calotype process in the
year 1840. In this process, Talbot coated paper sheets with silver chloride to
create an intermediate negative image. Unlike a daguerreotype negative could
be used to reproduce positive prints, like most chemical films do today.

Police Photography
Police Photography plays a very important role in preserving evidences
necessary in the prosecution of criminal and civil cases. With the help of
photograph taken from the crime scene he will be refreshed of his memory and
will be able to describe and recall the details in court. In a court proceeding, the
judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers have never visited the scene of the
crime. They all depend greatly in what things are presented in court, specially,
by the police investigator, and one of which are the photographs of the crime
scene which would facilitate their understanding of what had happened.
Photography is an indispensable tool to effective presentation of certain types of
court testimony.

A good photograph of the crime scene facilitates understanding and

evaluation of event so, therefore, police photographers should obtain a normal,
sharp and free of distortion photographs.

General Concept and Theories of Police Photography

Learning Essentials
Definition of terms
Photography – means a science or art of obtaining images on a
sensitized material by the action of electromagnetic radiation or rays
through the use of a camera and its accessories and the chemical
process involved therein.
Police Photography - is a science which deals with the study of the
principles of photography and the preparation of photographic evidence
and its application to police work.
Forensic Photography – is the process of photographing and
recording crime scene or any other objects for court presentation.
Police Photographer - one who is tasked to take photographs of crime
scene, suspects, witnesses or any other physical evidence found at the
crime scene, bring them to the laboratory for processing, recording and
filing.
Photograph – is the original result of Photography; reproduction of
some scene, object or persons through the means of photography; a
mechanical result of photography.
Picture – is a result of a photograph which maybe retouched or drawn
with the use of a material or being altered.

Theories and Concepts

Photography is about capturing light on

photographic emulsion or electronic sensor. The
common uses of photography in the early days were
portraitures until later on it was used in taking
photographs of suspects and inmates, accident
scenes and other crime cases. Photography later on
became accepted and admissible in court as exhibit
in furthering an issue in court. Therefore, its primary
use is recording of events and people. The recorded
events and people in the form of photograph when
used as exhibit in court is termed as forensic
photography.

Basic Importance of Crime Photography

Police Photography plays a very important role in preserving evidences
necessary in the prosecution of criminal and civil cases. With the help of
photograph taken from the crime scene he will be refreshed of his memory and
will be able to describe and recall the details in court. In a court proceeding, the
judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers have never visited the scene of the
crime. They all depend greatly in what things are presented in court, specially,
by the police investigator, and one of which are the photographs of the crime
scene which would facilitate their understanding of what had happened.
Photography is an indispensable tool to effective presentation of certain types of
court testimony.

A good photograph of the crime scene facilitates understanding and

evaluation of event so, therefore, police photographers should obtain a normal,
sharp and free of distortion photographs.