Review

The book was published a few weeks ago and since then I have shown it to family and friends including those who viewed its development and those who saw it for the first time. There was a general concensus that it was a good idea  to remove the images depicting CSI's at work as, although they were good photographs, they did not follow the concept of the book. I think it was also correct to change the title as the current one is accurate without giving anything away.

Even using modern equipment such as the Mezt and Speedlights the images retain the correct 'crime atmosphere' once it is revealed that is their nature. This is helped by depicting them in black and white. Rulers and label would always be included in evidence photography however in this case that would be a dead give away and I do not think the images lose anything by their omission.

I have tried to show everyday images and objects that the general public may walk past everyday without realising their significance.

I believe that the most effective way that this book could be viewed is by someone with no knowledge of the justice system or crime evidence in general and who is not aware of the author's background. The viewer should read the book from front to back with an open mind. Once the index of plate descriptions is reached at the back of the book, the telling indication of realisation would be that the viewer returns to the images to look at them in a different light based on new knowledge.

I think Kirk's description of what evidence can provide is a fitting epilogue to the book and finally leaves the viwer in no doubt as to its concept.

During the development of this project colourful relief was sought and brought about by other photography. This can be seen in my on-line portfolo at; (link - Kev's Portfolio to the right of this page).

or at;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61662368@N04/

The Final Product

Title

The title of the book was initially 'The 'i' of a CSI' alongside the image of my eye (which is still on the front cover). However it was thought that it would give too obvious a clue as to the concept of the book. After much deliberation 'The Devil Is In The Detail' was chosen for its play on words and also indicates something that is not immediately obvious to the lay person. That is that CSI work is all about capturing detail and things that cannot often be easily seen with the naked eye, such as evidence like hairs/fibres/fingerprints or DNA. For a CSI the devil in the detail is finding it, enhancing and recovering it.

Introduction

Any written introduction to the book was intentionally left out to avoid compromising its content and meaning, leaving its meaning to the thoughts of the viewer. The paragraph describing evidence by Kirk which can now be found at the back, was initially at the front of the book but was moved for the same reasons stated above.

Order of Images

The cover image is of my eye which seemed apropriate as the book is about how I see things as a result of my CSI work. A ring flash was used and then the image was faded in post production in order to blend in better with the light grey colour of the book's cover. This image was taken with a Nikon D80 as I also had access to a x4 close up filter to attach to it.

As stated earlier the cataliyst for the book's concept came from a comment made by Steve regarding the damaged gate in Manchester, so I thought it only appropriate that image should be the first in the book. 

I cannot confirm that this is the image I took on that first day of the course as I have been back there many times since. I find this image not only shows the damage to the gate very well from this angle but that it is also aesthetically pleasing. The bars of the gate reflecting the light and its shape leading the eye into the picture.

Glass

The most common evidence by far to be found at most crime scenes is glass of all types, whether as a result of criminals breaking into premises, intentional damage or vehicle collisions/theft. Initially there were many more images of broken glass, however although it meant that the concept was not obvious, it had the potential of leading the viewer completley down the wrong road. Which, although that is part of the idea, is too far removed from other aspects of the book. It was, however important to include images that the general public may pass every day without realising their significance.

Burglary

The above images show damage caused by people attempting to break into premises. The top image is a window leading into a church, the one below it, into someone's house. It was important to show the result of burglary as it accounts for 85-90% of a CSI's workload.

Criminal Damage

The damage in the two images above are caused intentionally probably by bored youths. It is a crime and goes by the name of  'criminal damage' for which you can get convicted. With the telephone box I blurred all but the broken window post production as it was not that obvious. The image above was part of a factory and these windows were high up so it was necessary to straighten converging verticals, which were converging even more than they still do.

Vehicle Crime

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Vehicle crime is a massive problem in the UK with a vehicle being used in crime or being stolen or stolen from every minute of the day. The top image of a windscreen is the result of a vehicle being used to ram into a shop to gain access. In the center image the vehicle has been rolled and shows the smashed sunroof and the lower image shows that even deterants such as alarms do not always work. It was when photographing these images that I used the two Speedlights activated wirelessly from my camera. Due to the light reflecting off the fractured glass it took several attempts to acheive the final results.                                                                                              

Suicide 

During my time as a CSI I had to photograph many suicides. One of the main reasons for this is that until a post-mortem has been carried out it is not known exactly how the person died. There is always the chance that it could be murder disguised as suicide. Initial photographs are vital as it would obviously be impossible after the PM. There are many impliments that can be used to facilitate suicide. I decided to include some of the more common types that may not always be obvious.

In some suicides bottles of pills are found nearby which may or may not have anything to do with the suicide itself. This image was taken in the studio on black cloth with Canon 5dmk2. The sheet which I have seen used as an impliment of hanging was taken on a bed next to a window flooded in sunlight.

Fingerprints/DNA

 Fingerprints and DNA are by far the most useful evidence types regarding identification. They can be found in the most unlikley of places. Fingerprints can be recovered from almost any surface you can think of and DNA can be recovered from things such as envelopes that have been licked and even fingerprints themselves from single skin cells left behind.

 Both these images were taken at reconstructed crime scenes with one light source, a Metz 45. In the book the empty coke can is opposite an image of  a spilt liquid. To the uninitiated the liquid could be coke.

I decided to include images of fingerprints and an image of a hand swipe in blood. However it is not immediately obvious that these are depict the importance of fingerprints.

Grafitti

Grafitti is a crime as it defaces others property and was often a photographic task I was asked to carry out. It can be found in most towns bytaking a walk around. My favourite walk is along a local canal where grafitti can be found under road bridges. I have taken many photographs of this grafitti and so knew where to find it and when the light would not cast too much shadow.

 I found this grafitti when walking around Lancaster. It was the attention to gramer that drew me to it.

Final Images

These are the final two images in the book. The scales were photographed in a house lit only by sunlight which gives a pleasing effect. They could be seen as the scales of justice except that in this case they have been used to weigh drugs.

In this, the last image in the book I wanted to show how an ordinary street scene could be seen in a different light. In order to do this I had to add a certain amount of writing to tell how I see the image. I had many street scenes from which to choose however this one is not too crowded and I like the elevated viewpoint. It does also contain what could be seen as 'typical' victims and offenders, although in reality they are indiscernible.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Choice of Images

Naturally in a project such as this you end up with far too many photographs from which to choose to put into the final presentation. Among many others, my initial choices included the following images which I later decided not to include.

                    

The above images, while being good enough to include in the book, were too obviously related to crime scenes. This was pointed out to me by members of my family when previewing the project.

These images are actual crime scene images I took while in Preston high street, however unless you crouched down and peered under the metal shutter, the damage could not be seen.

When designing the Blurb book on-line there is the ability to include a photograph within a photograph. Initially the above two images appeared as two small separate images inside a larger image which showed the scene overall (this has been left in the book). Again it was thought that to include two images that obviously show damage would enable the viewer to too easily 'read into' the image and guess at its meaning.

 In the book there is an image of a piece of wood with two holes in it alongside of which was the above image of two pistol cartridge cases which seemed to suggest that these were used to make the holes - again too obvious. Also, it was thought that cartridge cases are not items that the general public would normally come across.

 

These two images were initially included within the first image in the book of the damaged gate as described above. They show the paint on the gate from the vehicle used to ram into it and the damage to the chain by someone attempting to saw through it. The three images together were thought too obvious a link to crime.

Crime Scene/evidence Photography

Methodology

I have commented on the methodology of crime scene photography elsewhere in this blog, however I feel it will be useful to revisit this aspect for reasons that will become clear. The reason for photographing crime scene and evidence is sothat members of a Jury can see the scene without having to visit it - which may not be possible as scenes are cleaned up. It can also show where evidence was found and what state it was in when found. To that end scenes and evidence must be portrayed as accurately as possible without enhancement or manipulation of the image. Having said that qualities such as brightness or contrast may be altered if it enables a clearer view of the scene/item. On no account however must anything be added or taken away from the original image. 

Crime Scene Investigators can very often find themselves working in harsh and hazrdous environments such as building sites, fields, lofts etc. Sometimes this can involve having to carry fingerprinting kit, photography kit quite a distance from the vehicle. To this end the equipment carried cannot be too extensive for practical reasons. This is the main reason why crime scene photographs, very often, are lit only from one side which casts shadows on the other. This is a characteristic of crime scene photographs due to the limited equipment used. Naturally small apertures are always used for maximum depth of field, resulting in long exposures necessitating the use of a tripod. Off camera flash units are always used, held off to one side, hence the shadows on the other. These days a scale (ruler) is always included in the image alongside the evidence so that, if need be, it can be enlarged to actual size. A label is also always included giving basic details such as address, date etc. In Weegee's day the images are purely a result of the equipment available rather than any practical reason. Also, that was before any actual protocols were laid down relating to crime scene photography.

Project Methodology

It would be very easy to duplicate Weegee's harsh, one sided, black and white lighting in my images. In fact initially this is exactly the approach I took, as they do give the 'feel' , 'atmosphere' of a crime scene. However I was also aware that this is work that will be assessed, and so as well as keeping 'in line' with a traditional approach, I also needed to ensure that the images were of high a standard as possible. So, initially I used the same equipment that a CSI would use, DLSR camera, one off-camera flash unit held to the side. I decided I could do better and where circumstances allowed used two extra flash heads on tripods - Canon Speedlight 580ex's, wirelessly triggered by my camera. This gave much more even lighting while still mantaining the originality of a crime image. I have maintained the use of black and white images though, as I believe colour would detract too much from the atmosphere of a crime scene expected of the public. I also did not include rulers or labels. The reason for this is that viewers are not meant to readily relate the images with crime until they read the plate captions at the rear of the book.  

The images below show the initial results with one off-camera flash unit compared to the results I got when using the two remote Speedlights I borrowed from Darren.  

 

 

 

 The images taken using the speedlights are much better exposed and give more even lighting. This took some time to set up and perfect - a luxury that CSI's do not have.

New Project

Initial Ideas

My initial ideas included ways of showing the general public images of reconstructed crime scenes in order to show the general work of CSI's. 

In researching initial ideas for crime scenes I carried out some research into the oldest and possible originater of crime scene photography - the work of Arthur Fellig (links on right). With the exception of Arthur's work, due to the criminal nature of the images involved there is not really a great deal of work that is accessible or work related to prominent photographic figures in that genre, as this is a very specialised area of photography.

The above shows one of Weegee's photographs at a crime scene. Note the harsh lighting in black and white. Below is a photograph of a modern day Scenes of Crime Officer examining a vehicle used in a kidnap. Colour photography is used today, which although it enables things like blood patterns to be seen, I feel black and white better depicts a crime scene and people do not seem surprised to see a black and white crime scene image, but show surprise at a colour one.

I thought that this was too obvious a route though, and did not really depict that fact that I personally see things in a different way. To do this I realised that I had to show everyday objects and images that people would just ignore and walk past without realising the criminal significance of. During my research many memories of past crime scenes I had been involved with came flooding back as I tried to relate them to everyday objects that I could then find to photograph or reconstruct. For example a photograph I have used - that of an ordinary bed sheet, to me, depicts an item that could be used for suicide. This is because I have attended scenes in the past where such an item has been used for exactly that purpose.

Format

It was important that quite early on that I decided on the format of the finished product. I could then try to visualise what the images would look like in that format and also try to organise the order in which the images were to be viewed. I decided that I would show the images in book format using blurb.com. Using this format would enable me some control of the order in which the images are viewed, which I believe is a crucial factor in trying to acheive the objective of the project.

My target audience, ideally, would be people who have no idea of my background nor have a 'crime' related background themselves and would view the book from front to back with an open mind. To this end the finished book gives nothing away as to its purpose which is why there is very little in the way of any written introduction, and why there are no titles, or explanations with the images. Individual image titles/descriptions are at the end of the book which, ideally, will prompt the viewer to revisit the images.

Major Project

Interim Presentation

At the beginning of March I was asked to give an interim presentation of my project so far. I explained my project to staff and my peers, that of creating an alcohol awareness project aimed at students. I explained that it came about from the dismissal of Government scientist Professor Knutt in 2009 as reported in the Lancett on 1st November 2010, after he pointed out that the effects of alcohol on the public was greater than those of A class drugs. My project was not only to show the immediate dangers of alcohol but also the longer term effects. To do this it was my intention to break down the images into catagories relating to the problems caused by alcohol, drink driving, illness, crime, domestic abuse etc, etc. Up to this date I had amassed images relating to a few catagories which can be seen in the blog.

After presenting these ideas and images to the audience it was pointed out that, although it was a good idea and had the potentiol to be a good project, it did not really reflect my area of expertise - Crime Scene Investigation photography. Although it depicted images of the evdience of alcohol related problems, it was more of a publicity project. On reflection I could see their point. I maintain that it would make a good project and prove informative to students and I may return to it at a later date.

My problem now was how to depict the work of a CSI through images. Something that Steve said on the very first day of the course stuck in my mind when we walked through Manchester. On coming across a large gate which had obviously been rammed with a vehicle I pointed this out to Steve. He pointed out to me that no one else had seen the gate in such a way, and so that gave me the idea that maybe as an ex CSI I see things in a dfferent light/way to people who do not have a 'crime prevention/detection' background.