More mortuary photos?

[Harry D]

Could someone please explain to me why more mortuary photographs weren't taken of the victims? Was this process still in its infancy at the time? Were they trying to preserve the victim's dignity? Forgive me if either of those questions are way off the mark.

All we have for Nichols, Chapman & Stride are headshots, yet Eddowes was photographed at least three times, and apparently a picture was taken of Mary Kelly after her body had been surgically reconstructed. Do we know if more photos exist of the victims and have either been lost to the annals of time, or belong to collectors?

[Rosella]

I don't know if you've already read this, but it does give some explanation about the photographs.

http://casebook.org/dissertations/rip-wallwriting.html?printer=true

[Monty]

Hey Harry,

Photographs were taken for I.D purposes, hence head shots. However, there seems to be a shift with the Citys photograph of Eddowes, which I feel covered both I.D and evidence gathering.

The City (and the Met for that matter) were in liaison with the French version of CID, La Surete, who were improvising with photography, and advancing its use in recording evidence. It seems to me the City police were following suit, hence the request to photograph the Goulston Street writing, and the photo of actual wall writing revealed in the article Rosella kindly attached.

Monty

[Harry D]

Hey Harry,

Photographs were taken for I.D purposes, hence head shots. However, there seems to be a shift with the Citys photograph of Eddowes, which I feel covered both I.D and evidence gathering.

The City (and the Met for that matter) were in liaison with the French version of CID, La Surete, who were improvising with photography, and advancing its use in recording evidence. It seems to me the City police were following suit, hence the request to photograph the Goulston Street writing, and the photo of actual wall writing revealed in the article Rosella kindly attached.

Monty

Hello, Monty.

Is it arguable that had the other victims happened on City of London territory, there would've been more photographs taken?

[Harmonica]

Has there been any unofficial word among those in the community about other photos circulating? Or is it pretty much a dead end?

I didn't want to start a new thread because it's probably been covered as well, but what's the situation with the original photo negatives? Are any intact?