Installing Colour Photography
| Author | L. Ward |
| Published date | 01 November 1965 |
| Date | 01 November 1965 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X6503801106 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
SERGEANT
L.
WARD
Official Photographer Oldham Borough Police
We published pioneer articles on the police use
of
colour photography
by Det. Sgt. R. D. Ostler in our issues
of
May 1961 and July 1962.
Sergeant Ward records further progress in this very promising field.
INSTALLING COLOUR
PHOTOGRAPHY
Many years ago, when the first photographs ever taken were
beginning to circulate, a cynic was heard to remark,
"Well,
these
are all very well, but what's wrong with a pen and ink
sketch?"
This same attitude has been in evidence in the ranks of police photo-
graphers with the advent of colour photography
and
particularly
colour printing. Colour photographs have now been generally
accepted as a good medium for police use in the portrayal of wounds
and bruises in assault cases, and in some forces their use is far more
widespread.
For
several years colour transparencies have been used by quite
anumber
of
forces and their production in court has not raised any
objection from the Judges or counsel involved. This method of
presenting colour to a court, however, involves the use of either a
projector and screen or an illuminated hand viewer and this fact
alone has deterred many from venturing into the fields of colour
photography. With the introduction of new materials over the last
few years, colour printing by the negative-positive process has been
made much simpler and quicker and has opened up new fields for the
police photographer using colour. The production
of
prints eliminates
the need for any viewing devices and
not
only does this make the
presentation
of
colour in courts much simpler, it also makes other
uses
of
colour more practicable, as, for example, the displaying of
photographs
of
wanted persons or prisoners.
In Oldham, we have been using transparency materials for several
years
but
when it was realized
that
colour printing was also becoming
apractical proposition for police forces, I was sent on two courses
with well-known manufacturers. On successfully completing the
courses, one
of
which was of one week's duration and the other
of
three days', I returned to my force and we equipped for the production
of colour prints.
Our
equipment cost approximately £250, which
included the installation of an independent water supply and a
large sink to provide a water jacket for the deep tanks used for
processing, as well as the conversion of
our
existing half-plate
enlarger and the provision of all the other necessary equipment.
November 1965 515
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