Anyone who has ever seen an American news report about a trial at least once might have noticed that there are no photos or videos from the courtroom. More often than not, people are "pampered" only with strange sketches of the process, made in a hurry. Does this tradition have any serious rationale?
Why sketches and not photographs?
In fact, everything is quite simple. In most countries, in court situations, journalists are prohibited from taking photos and videos. Similar laws can be found from Europe to Hong Kong, and from Hong Kong to individual US states. This ban appeared immediately with the advent and widespread dissemination of photography. It is generally accepted that any shooting, be it a photo or video, distracts the participants in the process. However, this is the first, but not the only reason.
At many serious meetings (even if journalists are allowed there), it is forbidden to take photos and videos due to the need to keep some personal information of the participants in the process confidential. In fact, since the 1980s of the last century, there have been fewer and fewer trials where photography is prohibited.
Despite the ban, the media (be it newspapers, magazines or TV shows) need graphic content that can be presented to the material about the trial. Since photographs are often prohibited, journalists are allowed to sketch. The first forensic sketches in the United States date back to the 17th century. Court drawings were also made in Russia. The first ones have been known since the 19th century. However, there is a limitation here as well. In the most serious and difficult processes, journalists may be prohibited from drawing directly during the meeting. In this case, they are forced to work from memory after the process.
How it works?
The most important thing in the art of forensic sketching is speed. The journalist artist should paint as much as possible. Moreover, sometimes sketches of the court are made in a matter of minutes, because during high-profile trials, the media need "hot" graphic content that can be attached to the material being broadcast as soon as possible.
It is also interesting that not only media representatives are buying sketches of trials. Very often, such drawings are taken even by individual museums, the subject of which concerns the court case. So it's safe to say that sketching a court is one of the art forms.
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