Dead Bodies On The Set
Jessica Burstein’s staged crime photos for the Law & Order TV series are now collected in a coffee-table book.

It’s only appropriate that the still photography for Law & Order, the TV crime drama that’s “ripped from the headlines,” would have the same hard-bitten, tabloid-style feel as the series. And now, those gritty images by photographer Jessica Burstein, are moving from the set to coffee tables in a new published collection.

Photo by Jessica Burstein

It’s “the way [the show] was meant to be seen,” claims producer Dick Wolf who had always wanted to film the episodes in black and white. (Network execs unhelpfully suggested if he wanted black and white, he should have his viewers turn their color knob all the way to the left.)

Instead, Wolf decided to publish a book that would “capture the esthetic principle” of what Law & Order was originally supposed to be. Law & Order: Crime Scenes does just that, and also goes behind the production of the scenes of show. The book features extensive interviews with crew members ranging from costume designers to Teamster captains, and includes detailed notes on ten years of episodes. But the centerpiece of the book—much like the centerpiece of the television show—is the crime scene itself.

The book, which reads like a primer in classic crime scene photography, is a seemingly endless catalogue of shootings, stabbings, bloodied, beaten bodies splayed out in hallways and tenement floors, bathtubs and street corners. All have been carefully staged and composed with a wink to the godfather of crime photography, Weegee.

A fan of Weegee’s Naked City as well as author Luc Sante’s anthology Evidence, Wolf approached New York-based photographer Jessica Burstein a decade ago about creating this body of work as a companion piece to the show.

Burstein herself began her on-set photography career in 1973, when she earned $60 a week as NBC’s only female photographer in their publicity department. There, her job was to document the gamut of NBC programming: heading to Washington to cover White House press conferences or donning a pair of ice skates to cover a hockey game.

“NBC taught me to get in, get out and get your shot,” she says.

It’s a tactic that comes in handy with the tight schedule of Law & Order. Each episode uses eight prepping days and eight shooting days to make, in essence, a one-hour mini-movie. “The difference between film and television is the speed,” says Burstein.

On the set, it’s up to Burstein to get the pictures while jockeying for position with the cinematographer, director and other crew members. “Ninety percent of it is finding your spot. It’s like guerrilla warfare,” she says. Stealth is key, and at times Burstein has thrown on a Crime Scene Unit jacket in case she’s caught on camera while getting her shot. She also houses her 35mm camera in a soundproof blimp to keep the shutter sound from being picked up by the mikes.

For a show that values authenticity as much as Law & Order does (it’s all shot on-location in New York, and veteran police detectives review the scripts for details), it makes sense that the accompanying on-set photography match the spare, urban feel of the episodes. Burstein herself studied classic crime photography, and it shows in the angles she picks: like early crime photographers, she likes to shoot down from atop a ladder. She's also had discussions with police and made a sobering visit to an actual murder scene in Greenwich Village. (“It was horrible, but I needed to know what it looked like. I needed to know what was real.”)

For Law & Order, the on-set duties extend into the realm of art department and publicity work as well. Burstein is responsible for creating the crime lab and medical examiner photos used on the show, as well as any other photography needed for set dressing, such as wallet photos, family portraits, etc. These are a whole production in themselves, requiring the input of directors, producers, hair and makeup, and the art and production design departments. Burstein’s publicity work, portraits of the cast and special advertising shoots with guest stars often end up in press kits, posters, on coming attractions, in TV Guide and in the opening credits of all three Law & Order shows.

And now her work has found a new venue—The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, where they are interested in mounting an exhibit of Burstein’s images in late 2004.

“Apparently, somebody in Rochester likes fake dead bodies,” she says. “Whatever the reason, I’m pleased.”

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