Prev NEXT

How Crime Scene Photography Works

Crime Scene Photographs as Art

Weegee's famous photograph "Their First Murder" shows a crowd with mixed emotions gathered after a murder in Williamsburg in New York City.
Weegee (Arthur Fellig)/International Centre of Photography/Getty Images

In 2001, police officers and artists uncovered a treasure trove in a city records warehouse. They found a stockpile of forensic photo negatives from the Los Angeles Police Department -- some dating back to the 1920s. The images include every-day crimes, as well as the most infamous murders and biggest busts in the city's history.

­Struck by many of the images' captivating, almost movie-like quality, the artists and officers launched an effort to preserve the negatives, some of which were beginning to decompose. They also launched an exhibition of the archive and sent it around the United States. A lieutenant who helped present the archive explained that the images' morbid artistic quality was a result of less-scrupulous forensics standards in times past. The photographers were sometimes willing to fiddle with a crime scene in order to produce the best shot. Consequently, the photos, though they still functioned as evidence, look more like art than modern crime scene shots.

Advertisement

However, art and crime scene photography have long been linked. The New York City freelance press photographer Weegee made a name for himself by capturing images of crime scenes, news sites and movie premiers with equal frankness and occasional irony. In 1941, he staged a solo exhibition at the Photo League in New York entitled "Weegee: Murder is my Business."

But it's not terribly surprising that people display a fascination with crime scene photography. The often grisly images are set in such normal locations -- the steak house, the parlor or the street -- and subsequently elicit a morbid curiosity. They're strangely like everyday life, yet entirely different and wholly unsettling.

To learn more about CSI, crime-scene clean-up and cameras, investigate the links below. ­

Related HowStuffWorks Articles

More Great Links

Sources

  • "Forensic Photography for the Crime Scene Technician." California State University. http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/fet-ol.html
  • Kluger, Jeffrey. "How Science Solves Crimes." Time. October 21, 2002. SIRS Knowledge Source Database.
  • Miller, Barbara L. "The New Flesh." Afterimage. March/April 1999. MasterFILE Premier Database.
  • "Moreover: Most-wanted photography." The Economist. February 7, 1998. ProQuest Database.
  • "Photos from the Scene of the Crime." NPR. September 20, 2002. http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/sept/lapd_photos/
  • "Research and Markets Report: Photoshop CS3 for Forensics Professions: A Complete Digital Imaging Course for Investigators." Wireless News. October 17, 2007. ProQuest Database.
  • Rohde, Russell R. "Crime Photography." PSA Journal. March 2000. MasterFILE Premier.
  • "Weegee." The Getty. http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=1887

­