28 Crime Scene Photos From History’s Most Notorious Serial Killers

2. Alphonse Bertillon's "God's-Eye-View" tripod system.

The importance of crime scene photography was first recognised by Alphonse Bertillon who is now widely remembered as the first forensic photographer.

Bertillon was the first to suggest photographing not only the body but also the entire scene around the body, including shell casings, bloodstains, overturned furniture, broken doorways, and anything that could have been a piece of the larger investigative puzzle.

Bertillon even created a custom tripod that allowed him to centre his camera directly above a corpse. Known as the "Gods-eye-view," the tripod quickly gained popularity amongst investigators as it provided a clear, top-down view of the corpse, in addition to other wide-angle shots of the scenes.

Forensic photographers soon became staples in police departments around the world, and entire networks for crime scene photos were established.

It was largely due to the importance of crime scene photography that the system of photographing the criminals themselves through mug shots was invented, also by Alphonse Bertillon.