Customer Reviews

Camera Clues: A Handbook for Photographic Investigation

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_Camera Clues_ is an excellent reference for gleening clues from photographs and for serving as a basis for continued library-research into the multitude of topics covered. This book is an excellent launch pad from which to delve into the history of 19th century photography in general; some history of photographic equipment; some history of photographic technique; the interactions between general history/context and photography; as well as the more modern topics of trick photography, faked photographs, photographs used as legal evidence, and special effects. Even more important than the excellent summarization of information in this book is the extensive bibilography, as this book is written with full college-level expository-writing endnotes.

I have been restoring and copying my family's 19th-century photographs. Starting out from a basic exposure to 19th-century photographs on paper, glass plates, and metal plates, I learned much about the history of 19th-century photography from this book which is otherwise lost knowledge to the common person in this (almost-)21st-century world. I am actively using the bibliography for further investigations into focused topics.

If there were ever another edition, I would suggest more, more, more of the same, pulling in more history, more explanation of various discarded photographic technologies (e.g., carbrotypes, Lambertypes and the restrictive licensing of their patents), more context, more techniques of tracking down negatives from photography studios of old, etc. I find that there are 2 separate audiences for this book: 1) historical photograph detectives for geneological/etc work after the death of subjects in the photographs and 2) modern trick photography for establishing truthfulness, such as for a legal case. I think that both audiences hunger for greater treatment. I would request splitting this book into 2 volumes, where each volume is double or triple its current size, focusing in depth on the specific needs of those 2 disparate audiences.

The views contained in this feedback are the personal opinions of Dan'l Miller and are in no way connected with his employer or any other organization.

Nickell is a well-known rationalist and author of exposes of fraudulent "supernatural" phenomena. Here the focus, as it were, is on photographs as objects representing reality, or attempts to manipulate the same. Our first steps are examining techniques of photography, particularly early photographic processes. Following that is an examination of faking techniques and common-sense guidance for assessing photographic evidence.

The book is old now, pre-photoshop and pre-digital cameras, and could use an update on those topics. It's also only available new as an expensive, presumably, print-on-demand edition. Get it used.

Since one of my books is cited two or three times by Nickell, I may be considered biased. But "Camera Clues" is a good training ground for would-be investigators who want to learn how to study evidence before formulating hypothesis.

Nickell is rational, honest and uninterested in the sensational exploitation of celebrated crime photography. He also understands and delivers a fundamental truth: Every good photo analyst knows what he or she measures rather than what they see. In investigating the Kennedy assassination in particular, most so-called experts seem to have forgotten this sage truth.

Finally, it's a pleasure to have someone call my book "sensible." Hell hath no fury like conspiracy addicts scorned, and "sensible" is quite a change from some of the other names I've been called over the last decade and a half. Thanks, Joe.