Professional Documents
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DEFINITION OF TERMS
1. Literal definition
PHOTOGRAPHY
- derived from the two Greek words
“phos” which means “light” and
“graphia” which mean “write”
- therefore photography best
translates as to “write with light”
2. Modern definition
PHOTOGRAPHY
- it is an art or science which deals with the
reproduction of images through the action of light,
upon sensitized materials, with the aid of a camera
and its accessories and the chemical processes
involved therein.
3. Technical/Legal definition
PHOTOGRAPHY
- may be defined as any means for the chemical,
thermal, electrical or electronic recording of the
images of scenes, or objects formed by some type of
radiant energy, including gamma rays, x-rays, ultra-
violet rays, visible light and infrared rays.
Police photography
an art or science which deals with the
study of the principles of photography, the
preparation of photographic evidence, and
its application to police work.
Forensic Photography
an art or science of
photographically documenting a crime
scene and evidence for laboratory
examination and analysis for purpose
of court trial.
THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF PHOTOGRAPHY
1. Light – the days of creation
“In the beginning, God, and created the heavens and the earth. Now the
earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God
was hovering over the waters.
And God said, “Let’s there be light” and there was light. God saw the light
was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day”, and the
darkness he called “night”. And there was morning – The first day. (Genesis, chapter 1, verses 1-
3)
2. Equipment (1700)
The portable Camera Obscura (Latin for dark chamber) was used by artist
or painters to get accurate perspective of natural scene and scale of their subject.
1727 - Johann Heinrich Schulze discovered that light changes the nature
of chemical substances.
He found out that light turned the color of a mixture of chalk, silver
and nitric acid from white to yellow.
The said theory was verified after 52 years with the use of silver
chloride by a Swedish chemist by the name of Carl W. Scheele.
He also found out that light from the violet end of the spectrum
darkened the silver chloride faster than light of other spectral colors.
Known in the West
as Alhazen, Alhacen, or
Alhazeni, Abu Ali al-
Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn
al-Haytham was the
first person to test
hypotheses with verifiable
experiments, developing
the scientific method more
than 200 years
before European
scholars learned of it—by
reading his books.
DEVELOPMENT OF TRUE PHOTOGRAPHY
During this time; the cameras were crude; the lenses could not form
a true image; and the sensitive materials required long exposures
and could not reproduce colors in shades of gray.
It was in 1856 when John F.W. Herschel coined the word
“ photography”.
phos – light
graphia – write
- He is also responsible for the use of sodium
thiosulphate as “fixer” .
1859 – In the United States, one of the earliest applied Forensic Science was in
photography. It was used to demonstrate evidence in a California case. Enlarged
photographs of signature was presented in a court case involving forgery.
1864 – Odelbrecht first advocate the use of photography for the identification of
criminals and the documents of evidence and crime scenes.
1902 – Dr. R.A Reis, a German scientist trained in Chemistry and Physics
at Lausanne University in Switzerland. He contributed heavily to the use of
photography in forensic science and established the world’s earliest crime
laboratory that serviced the academic community and the Swiss police. His
interests included photography of crime scenes, corpses, and blood stains.
He made a trip to Brazil in 1913 where his experience in criminalistics was
presented to the Western Hemisphere for the first time.
1910 – Victor Baltazard developed a method of
photographic comparison of bullets and cartridge
cases which act as an early foundation of the field of
ballistics .
1960 – In criminal case, state vs. Conte 157 Comm. 251 A.2d 81 showing the graphic wound of the
victim.
Criminology Education
1902 – Dr. R.A Reis professor at the University of Lausanne Switzerland
set up one of the first academic curricular in forensic science. His
Forensic Photography Department grew into Lausanne Institute of
Police Science.