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Old LAPD Crime Scene Photos Give Us A Look Into Past, Dark Cases (Graphic)
A photography exhibit of LAPD crime scene photos from 1925 to the 1960s at Paris Photo L.A. this week might lure in fans of crime novels and True Detective.
The "Unedited! The LAPD Photo Archives" exhibit will be on display at Paris Photo L.A. from April 25 to April 27 at Paramount Studios. Fototeka collaborated with the LAPD to sift through a collection of archived crime scene photos, including ones from infamous cases like Black Dahlia, the Onion Field and the Manson family murders.
The snapshots, which also include graphic murder scenes, are reminiscent of Hollywood noir films. Each photograph tells a story, from a carbon monoxide poisoning to bullet holes in a car window.
Robin Blackman and Merrick Morton of Fototeka along with Julien Frydman, director of Paris Photo, collaborated in curating this exhibit. A good chunk of these pictures come from the Special Investigations Division, the nation's oldest crime lab, according to the Fototeka website. The Fototeka team estimated that there are about 1 million photos in the crime lab's archives and they've spent hundreds of hours sifting through them.
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In case you're wondering just how Fototeka got involved with this, according to their website:
In 2001, a convergence of interests brought Merrick Morton, a photographer and LAPD reserve officer, together with the adjutant to Chief of Police Bernard C. Parks, Lieutenant John Thomas, who has researched and written articles on LAPD history. Morton had been searching for LAPD photographs for an exhibition he was planning at Fototeka, the gallery he owned with his wife, Robin Blackman. After searching the Los Angeles Police Historical Society's collection and not finding what he was looking for, he approached Lt. Thomas to help him gain access to the records department, where he was convinced he would find the sought-after images. Thomas brought Morton's request to Parks, who was happy to oblige.
More Fototeka photos can be viewed here.
For more information on Paris Photo L.A., visit their website here.
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