Photobook
Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective's Scrapbook
Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective's Scrapbook is a photobook by Unknown author. Banned because of "the significant extent and degree to which this book presents degrading and dehumanising images of death": "The Classification Office believes that there is likely injury to the public good in forensic photographs of this nature being widely available as entertainment."
Description
About the work
Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective's Scrapbook is a photobook by Unknown author. Banned because of "the significant extent and degree to which this book presents degrading and dehumanising images of death": "The Classification Office believes that there is likely injury to the public good in forensic photographs of this nature being widely available as entertainment."
The surviving record is interesting because it shows how even ordinary-looking books can acquire a charged political afterlife. As a photobook, it can be read not only for subject matter but for the way form, tone, and circulation make a text feel dangerous, intimate, or politically usable to anxious officials.
It also matters as part of a wider censorship history in New Zealand. The present page is a dossier starter built from source-tracked ban records; the surviving note currently says: Banned because of "the significant extent and degree to which this book presents degrading and dehumanising images of death": "The Classification Office believes that there is likely injury to the public good in. More publication history, translations, and close reading can be added later.
Overview
Why it was banned
Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective's Scrapbook entered censorship debates as a photobook associated with controversy, publication history, and state scrutiny. In the current dossier, the main state objections cluster around political sensitivity.
The earliest event currently captured here is 1998 in New Zealand, where Office of Film and Literature Classification classified, prohibited, or restricted. Banned because of "the significant extent and degree to which this book presents degrading and dehumanising images of death": "The Classification Office believes that there is likely injury to the public good in. Banned because of "the significant extent and degree to which this book presents degrading and dehumanising images of death": "The Classification Office believes that there is likely injury to the public good in forensic photographs of this nature being.
This entry is still incomplete: more jurisdictions, court orders, and translated justifications should be added over time.
This page is intentionally incomplete. The ban history is a starter dataset, not a final census of every jurisdiction or decree.
Counter and critical readings
Context, rebuttals, and criticism
- 100 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature Nicholas J. Karolides, Margaret Bald, and Dawn B. Sova
A compact reference on how censorship systems moved across states, churches, and courts.
- Banned Books: 387 B.C. to 1978 A.D. Anne Lyon Haight
Useful for comparing older obscenity, heresy, and political bans with modern free-speech disputes.
Ban history
Known government actions
| Date | Jurisdiction | Action | Reason | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | New Zealand | classified, prohibited, or restricted | Banned because of "the significant extent and degree to which this book presents degrading and dehumanising images of death": "The Classification Office believes that there is likely injury to the public good in. | Banned because of "the significant extent and degree to which this book presents degrading and dehumanising images of death": "The Classification Office believes that there is likely injury to the public good in forensic photographs of this nature being. |
Sources
Harvested references for this page
- Wikipedia: List of books banned in New Zealand reference partial
- Wikipedia REST summary API database partial
- 100 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature book partial
- Banned Books: 387 B.C. to 1978 A.D. book partial