From January 26 to August 20, 2023 at the Swiss Museum of the camera
Founder, UNIL, of the first school of scientific police in the world in 1909, criminalist, Rodolphe Archibald Reiss (1875-1929) put his mastery of chemistry and photography at the service of his science, Developing shooting techniques that are still used today.
In collaboration with the UNIL Criminal Sciences School, The Swiss Museum of the Vevey camera devotes an exhibition that details its photographic methods applied to crime scenes, False banknotes, to the arms of the murderers, to burglars' tools, tattoos or fingerprints.
Taking advantage of his scientific knowledge, The photograph criminalist managed to reveal latent traces with clarity or barely observable with the naked eye. He used a variety of processes: color filters, direct lights, raster or thoughtful, Special development processes in dark room, microscopes, Photographic equipment designed according to his own recommendations. Reiss made the invisible visible for one goal: to help the manifestation of the truth by the systematic study of the material traces.
A collaboration of the Swiss Museum of the camera and the UNIL
The exhibition originates from a desire from the University of Lausanne: to make its institutional heritage accessible to the greatest number. After several years of work, The Rodolphe Archibald Reiss photographic fund has been fully inventoried and digitized by the UNIL Information and Archives Service (UNIRIS). It is now integrated into the UNIL digital collections portal, providing free access to a unique heritage.
A large scientific mediation program
Several mediation activities intended for adults, that in children and families and schoolchildren are offered in partnership with the test tube, The Unil Science and Society laboratory. A rich program is to be discovered throughout the duration of the exhibition, Interactive workshops, An enigma to be resolved in the museum as well as meetings with criminal science experts.