Customer Reviews

Scene of the Crime: Photographs from the LAPD Archive

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Scene of crime photos like other professional images (medical, a racetrack photo-finish, IDs, speed cameras etc) don't need to worry about creative input, they just need to give basic information, tell a story and that's it. The 133 case study photos in this handsomely designed and printed book certainly captured my interest and I wanted to know more.

At this point the first problem arises, all the captions are at the back of the book, despite the fact that many of the photos are on pages with plenty of white space. At the back the photos are presented as thumbnails but even here it gets confusing, the captions are in a separate text block to the thumbnails. The reality is that all the captions could easily be with the relevant photos if the book had been designed a bit differently or if the captions had to be in the back they should have been placed below the relevant thumbnails.

There might be a reason for this rather inadequate arrangement though because (problem two) there are sixty-five photos, which when you turn to read the caption, you'll find the photo date, a one or two word description and then 'Case information unavailable'. So, amazingly, for about half the photos in the book there are no captions, no story to tell. To my mind this seems a fairly fundamental editorial failure especially considering that the LAPD archives probably contain over a million case photos and surely 133 could have been selected that had their case material available.

As to the photos, they are the usual selection of battered and bloodied bodies in car wrecks, living rooms, bedrooms, eateries or just plain anywhere, ransom notes (bank robbers are not a very literate bunch) mug shots and plenty showing the ordinary, mundane detritus of crime. Historically they cover the twenties to the seventies and fortunately you'll find no celebrities here.

There seems to be a growing interest in publishing crime photos, I have a copy of 'New York Noir' (ISBN 0847821722) a beautifully produced book of images from the archives of the New York Daily News and the rather more crudely produced (and this probably gave the photos more impetus) 'Death Scenes' (ISBN 0922915296) a very explicit collection of photos collected over the years by LA detective Jack Huddleston.

'Scene of the Crime' is an intriguing book that could have been far more interesting if it had delivered all that it promised, so only three stars. BTW, if you are sensitive about photos of dead bodies don't buy it.

Just a note on other reviews in regard to the lack of captions. The LAPD negatives are not kept with the case files. There are very few case files even available, as they have been destroyed due to lack of space. There is a normal descruction process within the LAPD for paper files. The cases researched in this book were taken from old homicide log books. Also newspaper databases were used. If you would like more details on the LAPD Archive please visit fototeka.com

The books contains numerous great photos, but the design of the book brings down the overall impression. First of all, the format is unusual, unattractive and cumbersome. Too small to be a coffee table book, too tall for many bookshelves.
Additionally, the fact that the captions (and explanations) are all found in the back of the book is a huge error. When browsing the images one has to continually switch back and forth between image page and caption page. I also agree with a previous reviewer that the fact that so many images have no information/file available is a huge loss. The quality of the image material is,however, beyond comparison. Very impressive and interesting photos indeed.

I am sure everyone is aware that Scene of the Crime is not the first collection of police archive photos to be released. The past few years have seen the release of many collections of such photos; the most well known being New York Noir, Evidence and Death Scenes. New York Noir and Death Scenes have a common thread in their use of well-known writers in their introductions. Luc Sante the noted New York historian collected the photographs for Evidence and penned the introduction for New York Noir. Katherine Dunne, the author of Geek Love is responsible for the intro to Death Scenes. Scene of the Crime follows that tradition; drafting the modern master of Los Angeles noir, James Ellroy, to pen the introduction to this collection of archival Los Angeles crime photos. Much as Luc Sante was the ideal choice for New York Noir, Ellroy is perfect for this collection of photographs from the city that has been his muse.

Some may be inclined to compare collected archival crime scene and police photos to the work of Weegee, but to do so would be a mistake. In his time Weegee photographed to satisfy tabloid papers and their readers. Don't get me wrong, I love the photographs he took, but the police photographer is not in it for the same thing. The crime scene photographer is there for documentation. It's his job, no different than taking portrait shots of unruly and unkempt children in a corner alcove at the local mall. However, there is art to be found in crime scene photos, it is not just point and shoot. The angles, the shadows, the composition of the photos, why some have the faces of the victims shown and why some do not, these are all aspects of the art behind the documentation of the crime scene.

After the introductions and essays the photograph collection is shown with no documentation other than the notes of the photographer written on the image. This technique forces the viewer to look at the photos and imagine the stories behind them. How and why did all the subjects living and dead end up facing the lens of the Los Angeles Police Photographer? The two suited men shot over dinner. The man shot dead in an open doorway. An empty room with an open door. Bloodstains on the floor. Cheesecake photos pushpinned to a panel wall. Cigarrette cartons and bottles strewn across a wood floor. Heads resting in puddles of blood. Knife and razor cuts. Bodies laying in doorways, on steps, in cars, on streets, face down, on their backs, partially dressed, fully suited, naked and cut into pieces. Bodies lying in tubs, lying in shallow graves, shot, beaten. Dead and beaten women who would be beautiful if it were not for the blood that has run from their mouths, noses, and ears. Sharp dressed men, with their suits covered in their own blood. Ah, the good old days...

After the collection an index tells as much of the story behind each picture as possible. It is interesting to look at the index and see how close your imagination was to the reality. How close were you to deciphering the scenes? Did you nail the stories behind the SLA note, the suicides, the lovelorn, the rejected, the beaten, the famous, the unknown, the riots, the drunks, the mobsters, the stars, the starlets, the starry eyed, or the Manson family?

At first I did not appreciate the layout of the book, photos with no captions. Without the background you are forced to study the scene more intently than you would if all the details were given to you. What happened? What time did the crime take place? Why did the crime take place? Who would commit such a crime? Who's body are you looking at? In effect, you become a detective, arriving at the scene of a crime, knowing absolutely nothing other than what you are staring at. In the end, this is a perfect layout for a collection of crime scene photographs. A book that becomes more revealing and more interesting every time it is opened.

Scene of the Crime was a bit disapointing due to the fact that the readr must go back and forth from the photos, to the captions, which are compiled at the end. Quite a few of the cases have no information available at all, as the other reviewers have mentioned, and although the LAPD has done a great job maintaining paper on most of these cases, some details are bound to slip through the cracks.

A few of the cases depicted in "Scene of the Crime" are also depicted in Huddleston's "Death Scenes", though nowhere near as graphic. Many of the locations found in the book are still standing, as a matter of fact, I often pass by the building shown on pgs 52-53 (traffic collision at 1st and Boyle) though now its an apartment building but still featuring the unique parapet up top.

Overall a pretty good read.

Scene of the Crime is the latest in a recent influx of collections of crime scene photography, and it has added appeal in that some of the images are of famous cases, such as the Black Dahlia murder and the Manson Family slaughterhouse. The book is laid out in the same manner as most of these books, with black and white images presented in the first half of the book, and information for each photograph at the back. Unfortunately, many of the photographs piqued my curiosity, only to find a sad, unsatisfying, "case information unavailable" comment awaiting me in the back of the book. Still, many of the images are so well-composed and interesting that they could be seen in art museums rather than cold case files, so this is a minor quibble.

However, there are also quite a few lesser and uninteresting images as well, which left me feeling a bit cheated given my suspicion that the LAPD coffers are overflowing with many more graphic, historic, and fascinating images. Comparing this book to the classic LA crime gallery Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective's Scrapbook serves to further point out this collection's shortcomings. There is nothing in here as punch-in-the-gut brutal as the image of the decapitated baby on the cutting board or as surreal as the peaceful head sitting in the middle of a road after a traffic accident, both from Death Scenes. Taken on its own merits, I might have given the book a five skull rating, but in comparison with its more amazing brethren I'd have to rate it a four.

There isn't much information on these stories. Most these pictures are from long lost files, yet it is a must have for any fan of forensic photography and crime. The pictures are large and detailed. The book is a great "coffee table" style book and is very well bound.

I saw a story about the authors on a local PBS show in Los Angeles, they are preserving the LAPD photo archives and have picked some of their favorites for this book. It's a bit gruesome in parts (of course, they are crime scene photos!) but it is an interesting glance into L.A.'s past, and I'm glad these folks are doing what they can to preserve our heritage. The photo presentation is great - this is a nice, large format book that gives you good sized images. Recommended for fans of photo and/or the macabre.