Shots in the Dark

When shots ring out, photographers shoot back. Their images can startle, inform and serve as witness. Mundane and profound, gruesome and compelling, crime photographs are, for better or worse, part of our world. Featuring many rarely or never-before-seen images, this book aims to shed new light on the role of crime photography in our history and in our culture. They are pictures which are often seen once and then never forgotten: an autopsy photograph of Lee Harvey Oswald; the bodies of Lizzie Borden's parents, photographed in the room where they were slain; pictures of balistic equipment used to determine Sacco and Vanzetti's guilt and of O.J. Simpson wearing shoes that match the footprints at the murder scene. Photographic historian Gail Buckland has sought out the most provocative and informative images and provides illuminating commentary throughout the book.