INTELLIGENCE PHOTOGRAPHY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01333A000300110002-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 18, 1998
• Sequence Number: 2
• Content Type: REPORT

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Elastic requirements for useful
photos, but stringent specifica-
tions for the best.
INTELLIGENCE PHOTOGRAPHY
In the days and months after the Nazi blitzkrieg suddenly
overran France, British topographic intelligence, ill prepared
to support the evacuation at Dunkirk and subsequent raids
on the French coast, resorted to photo intelligence from post
cards, travel folders and brochures, and tourist snapshots col-
lected by public appeal.' That they were driven to this kind
of improvisation illustrates the wisdom of building up in ad-
vance an intelligence photo collection even on objects and
areas where no intelligence need is foreseen. It also shows
that casual photos taken without any regard to the require-
ments of a photo interpreter can be useful. Nevertheless their
usefulness is increased and the interpreter's work eased in
proportion as his requirements-most of them stemming from
his need to take measurements-are fulfilled.
There are times when a single photograph is the documen-
tary evidence upon which a critical decision must be based.
The specially skilled personnel of a photographic intelligence
center may spend days and sometimes weeks exploring with
their computers and precision measuring devices a single
35 mm. negative, extracting information that could not be
imagined to reside in it. It may yield only one required fact,
but sometimes that tiny piece of acetate and silver becomes
the key to a cabinet full of hitherto inaccessible secrets. In
the story of the Yo-Yo missile guidance system told in a recent
issue of the Studies,2 photographs of a grass-covered bunker
ending in two large triangular discs provided the critical
information that led to a break-through.
' See James Leasor's The Clock with Four Hands, reviewed in Studies
IV 1, p. 99.
IV 1, p. 11 if.
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CONFIDENTIAL Photography
The history of these Yo-Yo prints also illustrates the tribu-
lations imposed on the photogrammetrist trying to get his
measurements when -the necessary technical data does not
accompany the film. The make of camera that took them
was not reported, nor the focal length of the lens, nor any
estimate of camera-to-target distance. Even the size of the
negatives was uncertain, there being no black border to show
that they had not been cropped. Nevertheless a crude indi-
cator for scale was found-a number of cows shown beyond
the bunker in one of the pictures. These were identified as of
the Angus breed, the average hip-to-ground height of Angus
cattle was obtained from the Department of Agriculture, and
the task of triangulation could begin. The resulting meas-
urements of the visible parts of what turned out to be a new
kind of radar system were later verified by repeated photo-
graphic coverage as being within 10% of the actual dimen-
sions.
Measurements
When thefocal length of the lens and the camera-to-target
distance are known, the scale of the image on the negative
is immediately available as their quotient. Measurements of
the target's image, usually made in hundredths or thousandths
of a foot, can be converted by this scale into the target's true
dimensions :
image dimensionX _ distance =true dimension
focal length
The scale will be accurate, of course, only for objects in a
plane at exactly this distance from the plane of the camera
lens; the computation of the size of objects shown nearer to
the camera or farther away is more complex.
If the focal length is not reported, but an object of known
size-preferably something better standardized than cows-
is shown, the scale will be the quotient of a measured dimen-
sion of that object's image by its true dimension; and the
size of other objects in the same range plane can then be found
with the formula:
unknown image dimensionX known true dimension
known image dimension
. unknown true dimension
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Photography CONFIDENTIAL
For the most accurate measurement of fine detail, however,
the photogrammetrist uses angular measurements and
trigonometric computations, based on the angular field of
view of the lens and the size of negative used in the camera.
The standard 50 mm. lens for a 35 mm. camera, for example,
takes in a horizontal angle of 38.2 ? and a vertical angle of
260, while a 400 mm. telephoto lens takes in only 51/2? by 31/20.
At a given range the lateral distance from the center point
of the field of view to one of its extremes will be the product
of the range distance by the tangent of half the maximum
angle in question.
Fortunately, measurements are not always needed, even of
military equipment in denied areas. Specialists on the type of
equipment in question can often identify a known model by
its distant, poorly defined silhouette, and the knowledge that
such a piece of equipment was seen in that location is what
is important. New models or modifications of old ones are a
different matter; their capabilities have to be determined by
the measurement of critical parts. And here especially the
refinements that make the difference between a tourist snap-
shot and the most informative photograph, while small, are
important. They are of two kinds, qualities inherent in the
negative itself and a sufficiency of accompanying data about it.
Photographic Requirements
The first requirement is the highest resolution-sharpness
of image-of which camera and film are capable. It can be
achieved by focusing the lens properly, by holding the camera
steady, and by using a relatively high shutter speed (1/100th
second or faster) to minimize camera and subject movement.
The film, when there is a choice, should also be selected with
a view to resolution; and here, unless light is good and motion
minimal, it is necessary to compromise between fast film and
the slower fine grain. Panatomic-X (ASA 25) or its equiva-
lent is an excellent choice when light conditions are good and
the finest detail is necessary. For poor light or when a very
fast shutter is required, films such as Tri-X Pan (ASA 200)
should be used. As a compromise, Plus-X Pan (ASA 80) is the
best all-purpose film. Color film is desirable only when color
is an important feature of the subject; that now on the mar-
CONFIDENTIAL 11
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Photography
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Photography CONFIDENTIAL
ket gives rather poor. resolution as. the color fringes blur into
one another. With improvements,. film of the type of East-
man's Kodacolor may in the future. be the answer to this
problem.
The second requirement is that photographs not be cropped.
If a print is submitted it should be made from the full nega-
tive. The analyst's ability to take fine measurements from a
photograph is keyed, as pointed out above, to knowledge of
the angular field of view of the camera lens and the size of
the negative used. If a print has been cropped or masked,
the angular relationship is left without its frame of refer-
ence. But if prints are made with a little of the.negative's
clear margin showing on all four sides, the resulting black
border assures the interpreter that he is working with the
full frame.
Third, if a print is submitted, the contrast should be neither
light nor heavy, but medium. The details important to photo-
analysis are frequently in shadow areas, which would be black-
ened by heavy contrast. But whenever possible, the original
negatives, not prints, should be submitted. The best of prints
will contain only about 35 of the 200 to 300 different tonal
shades of gray that the negative may have, and each tone
may represent additional information. The photogrammetrist,
to be sure, will not use the original negative for fear of dam-
aging it, but he will make a positive transparency. that has
all the qualities of the negative by contact printing on a piece
of film designed for this purpose.
Accompanying Data
The analyst can sometimes improvise, as we have seen, but
he will be able to get the most out of each photograph if it
is accompanied by the following information:
Where the picture was taken-geographic location, prov-
ince, city, town, and as nearly as possible the exact posi-
tion. On a train the notation might be, "Ten rail clicks
south of milepost 147 on x-y rail line," or on the high-
way, "300 yards SSE of intersection of highways N30 and
N12." Further, the compass direction in which . the
camera was pointed; the more accurate the azimuth read-
ing the more valuable the photo will be.
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Date .and time. Precision as to the time of day within five
minutes will give the analyst a secondary method of mak-
ing height determination by reference to astronomic
data on sun position computed for the area in question.
-Make and model of camera; different models may have dif-
ferent frame sizes, the Robot "Star," for example, pro-
ducing , . a 1" by 1" negative and the Robot "36" a 1" by
_1%1'. Paramount is the importance of recording the
focal length of the lens, which is always engraved on the
front of the lens rim.
Camera-to-subject distance, with method of measuring it-
paced, map reference, eye estimate, etc.
Any unusual conditions at the scene-sounds, smells, colors,
smoke, anything that might help to identify an unknown
activity.
For all these purposes some system of numbering the ex-
posures to key them to the data is ;necessary. Film for 35 mm.
cameras is convenient in this respect because each frame is
numbered during manufacture.
Special Techniques
Every lens has a distortion pattern of its own, displacing
the photographic image from its true position. When the
camera and lens to be used on a photographic mission are
available to the photo analyst, he has them calibrated on an
optical bench, recording the distortion pattern of the lens and
the precise alignment between lens and plane of film. This
calibration in advance is not often possible, but. the photog-
rapher can easily provide calibration data himself. He stands,
with his camera, between two parallel lines, such as the curbs
of a street, or even better a straight stretch of railroad
tracks, and makes one exposure looking down these lines with
camera held level in . normal position.. Then he turns the
camera 900 about its lens axis so that the horizontal dimen-
sion of the frame is vertical and makes a second exposure of
the same view from the same position. If these two nega-
tives are submitted, along with the photos taken by the cam-
era, the optical technician can plot the pattern of distortion
and compute its effect on measurements in the latter.
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A real photographic study of a subject requires views from
various positions, even if they. can be taken from only one
direction-distant views to show the entire area and the posi-
tion of the subject in its environs; medium ones for defini-
tion of the relationships of components of the subject to each
other; close-ups for details of structure, size, and function-
ing of individual components. These three kinds of view can
be taken either by moving progressively closer to the target
or by successive use of wide-angle, normal, and telephoto
lenses. There is no such thing as too many photographs
of a subject, particularly of telephoto views, in which atmos-
pheric interference and the foreshortening of the field pre-
sent additional problems to the photo interpreter.
When a subject is too broad or tall to get into a single
frame, it can be covered by a series of exposures-a procedure
called panorama or partial cyclorama. The photographer
takes a position at an identified point and starts with a pic-
ture of one of the extremes. Then from the same position
he takes a second shot with a 30% to 40% overlap of the
first, and so continues until he has covered the area. If pos-
sible, this procedure should be duplicated from a second or
even third position, recording the relationship of each
camera position to the others.
Of all the techniques used in ground photos, stereophotog-
raphy probably has the greatest versatility and value. The
simulated third dimension can be of great help in distinguish-
ing between components of a subject or several similar objects
in proximity to one another. Although 35 mm. stereo cam-
eras are available on the market, they are of little use at
distances beyond 50 or 60 feet. Stereophotographs at greater
distances are best made with an ordinary camera, taking
pictures of the same object from two or more slightly sep-
arated stations with the optical axis of the lens parallel in
all shots. As a rule of thumb, the distance between camera
stations should be one foot for each 100 feet of range. This
distance, called the stereo base, should be reported. Stereo-
photographs can be made from a moving vehicle by holding
the camera in fixed position and making successive exposures
as rapidly as possible. The interval between exposures and
the speed of the vehicle, if they can be estimated, will provide
a stereo base.
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CONFIDENTIAL Photography
These refinements. of technique, together with accurate
and complete data accompanying submitted films, enhance
the intelligence value of reports based upon photography.
But the elaboration of sophisticated requirements should not
be allowed to obscure the most important requirement:
Take pictures.
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Intelligence market for the
product of the camera fan's fun.
SNAPSHOTS AT RANDOM
Everyone who has taken photographs in a foreign country
has collected potential ground photographic intelligence. The
traveller turns his camera upon anything that excites his in-
terest-the civil engineer on peculiarities in the construc-
tion of dams, roads, bridges, and city buildings; a woman per-
haps on clothing, jewelry, and hair styles; a doctor on things
related to disease and therapy; a farmer on crops and tools
and methods of farming. The more widely travelled the man
behind the camera and the broader his interests, the more
discriminating he is likely to be in photographing subject
matter peculiar to a particular place. But the potential in-
telligence thus collected is often lost; there are two minimum
requirements for transforming it into actual photo intelli-
gence. One is that the pictures must be identified, at least
by the name of the place or subject, the direction the camera
was facing, and the date. The other is that they must get
to the market.
The most omnivorous and insatiable broker for the photo
intelligence market is the CIA Graphics Register. If you have
a batch of photos taken anywhere abroad, properly identified
and preferably with negatives, the Register would like to look
them over. If they were taken in London or Paris or Vienna,
say, the pickings may be slim, but the Register would like to
decide for itself. And if it knows in advance that you are
going to have a tour in some less well frequented place, it
may be interested enough in promoting your hobby to supply
you with camera and film. With a minimum of effort, adding
to the pictures you normally would take anyway a notation
of the place, time, and direction and as much descriptive data
as you can, you are likely to produce some useful photos.
Targets of Opportunity
The results will be much better, however, if you add to this
minimum effort a little more and become as familiar as you
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can with photo collection manuals and lists of requirements
on the area. Graphics Register can refer you to general pub-
lications on these subjects; 1 and attache offices in all the
U.S. diplomatic missions have such manuals and require-
ments lists in detail for their particular areas. You can pick
out of the listings a few things that are of interest to you
and accessible for photographing in the course of your normal
day-to-day activities. One standing requirement, for example,
is photographs of prominent persons in almost any field, espe-
cially the military, political, economic, and scientific. If an
election is coming up and campaigning is in progress, why
not take a few pictures of the speakers? If they are within
50 feet of a 35 mm. camera, the heads can be enlarged to
an identifiable likeness. The closer the better, naturally,
but the main thing is to get them on film and in focus.
The fact that an object may have been photographed pre-
viously by no means disqualifies it: changes, or the absence
of changes, in it over a period of years or of weeks may be
important. And changes aside, it is amazing how many pic-
tures of the same object can be taken without telling the
whole story. Although I must have seen hundreds of photo-
graphs of the Eiffel Tower before I went to France, it wasn't
until I walked under it that I realized the first balcony
has a big hole in it. So looking up, I photographed the tower
through the hole; and then, just for fun, I kept trying to
find another photograph that showed there was such a hole
in the middle of the balcony. It was three and a half years
before I saw one. A good photographic practice is to take
the normal view of an object and then try to think up a dif-
ferent viewpoint and take that also. Few people look up, and
it is often by looking up that you find an extraordinary
picture.
If a new gas storage tank is being built in the city where
you are stationed and you drive past it going to work every
day, why not photograph it once a week or once a month?
The photos will tell how long it takes to build it, what types
of materials and methods of construction are used, and how
much gas storage capacity is being added. Maybe you don't
know what a gas storage tank looks like, and all you see is a
1 See appended bibliography for a sample list.
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big tank being built. Take a picture of it anyway; obviously
it is built to store something. What you don't know about
it the analyst will. That is what he is an analyst for, but
he can't analyze it if you don't get him the pictures.
Captions
A bit of extra effort put into captioning your shots will
pay off, too. One kind of information you may not be in the
habit of noting for your own purposes, technical data, may
be of importance to the Register. This includes the kind of
camera and lens, the type of film, and the speed of exposure,
as well as a serial number for each roll and frame. You
should especially make note if you have used a telephoto or
wide-angle lens. Information on the type of film and exposure
speed will not only assist in its development but also make
it possible for you to get advice on how to correct any mis-
takes you make and improve your technique.
Roll 20, frame No. 3. 2 May 1959. 1100 local time.
Malaya, Kelantan state. Town, road, waterway.
Main road between Kota Bharu and Kuala Trengganu
looking south at ferry toward village of Jerteh. Note cut at
right for bridge under construction (see frames I and 2 for
other shots of bridge).
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Most important, however, is good identifying data about
each picture. The essential elements are the date (and the
time of day may be useful) ; the precise place; the subject or
subjects, with special note of particular features of intelli-
gence interest; and the direction the camera was facing, by
compass or with reference to landmarks. It might be noted,
for example, that frame no. 7 of roll 2 was exposed at 1330 on
17 November, one mile east of Otaru, Hokkaido, on the road to
Sapporu, looking north and showing a Soviet trawler in the
bay. Or from a second-floor street window of the Hotel Eu-
rope in Bangkok, looking down on a passer-by identified as
so-and-so on his way to the corner to hail a samlor.
These essentials can frequently be supplemented to advan-
tage with additional comments or with printed matter bear-
ing on a particular picture. Perhaps the idea of the target
came from facts you read in the newspaper; clip the article
out and send it along. You find your way around unfamiliar
cities with the help of guidebooks, free tourist maps, and maps
bought at local survey offices or book stores. The analyst can
use the same material to find his way around your photo-
graphs; if you can't send copies, at least make reference to
the tools of travel you used. In the absence of printed ma-
terial it is extremely useful to draw a sketch showing the
relationship of pictured objects. A sketch is particularly good
when there are several shots of the same subject from differ-
ent vantage points, or of different subjects near each other,
or of subjects that are not mapped. The analyst never com-
plains that he is given too many facts about a picture.
Spies and People
You may want to shoot beyond your targets of casual op-
portunity and make trips or excursions expressly for the pur-
pose of getting useful pictures. Fine; but since you are pre-
sumably abroad on some other government business, it is
paramount that you remember you are taking pictures for
fun. You should never take photos at the risk of your proper
work, your purpose in being there. This need for discretion is
of course a greater limitation in some places than in others.
Once you have decided upon a target, the thing to do is become
as familiar with it as possible, learn for sure just what the
limitations of law and discretion are, and forget completely
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why you want the pictures. Try to take them for some other
reason than intelligence collection.
I once wanted to photograph a new electric power plant
in Malaya. So far as I knew, nobody would question my tak-
ing the pictures; but it is a little odd for a girl to go around
photographing power plants. First, I had to find it, some-
where around a certain town. I drove out the main road from
that town, which finally passed under some high power
wires. After taking pictures of the road in both directions,
and the wires and towers in both directions, I drove on,
planning to take the next road turning off either right or
left parallel with the wires. But at the next turn a sign
pointed to the power plant.
I photographed the side road and then drove down it until
I came to a one-way bridge with a policeman at each end and
the power plant on the other side. The first policeman waved
me to a stop. I got out of the car, camera in hand, and went
up and asked him why. He said I had to wait a few minutes,
the Sultan was coming. I asked what was the big building
on the other side of the river. "That's our new power
plant," he said proudly. "That's nice," I said, "Does it work
now?" "Oh, yes." "Golly," I said, "Can I take a picture of
it?" "Sure, why don't you go to the other end of the bridge,
you get a better shot." So I shot a lot of pictures, some in-
cluding the bridge and a nearby railway bridge, with a lot of
kibitzing, until the Sultan came past in his Mercedes. Then
I thanked the policeman and left, congratulating myself that
nothing could have been easier. If I'd been as smart as I
thought I was I'd have got a good picture of the Sultan and
one of the policeman. No matter how much you see, if it isn't
in your camera it's worthless.
The biggest hazard to the camera fan who has ulterior mo-
tives is people-himself, ordinary people, and people who
might suspect him. If you act suspicious even the ordinary
people will become suspicious. If you act quite ordinary even
the suspicious people will think you quite ordinary. That is
why it is important for you to forget the reason you are
taking your pictures. Just take them; but know what you will
say if you are questioned. Sometimes if people are watching
me take pictures it makes me nervous, so I retaliate by turn-
ing my camera on them to make them nervous. In the places
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Roll 27, frame 11. February 1960.
Burma, Kachin state, Shwegu village. Sociological.
Man cutting bamboo.
I've been they are either so pleased they stop being inquisitive
or suspicious or else they are embarrassed and go away. I
have been told that in the Middle East they often throw
things, and that in the Soviet bloc it can be quite dangerous;
but in Asia usually they giggle. Some friends of mine in
Borneo used a polaroid camera to divert the people with pic-
tures of themselves while they took candid shots. One Dyak
requested a photo of the tattoo on his back; he had never
seen it!
The necessary equipment for ground intelligence photog-
raphy consists of one camera and plenty of film. A camera,
like a pair of shoes, is an individual and personal matter. I
prefer a 35 mm. negative because its 20 or 36 frames per stand-
ard roll last longer without changing film, and larger cameras
are too heavy and bulky. I would not use a smaller one, of
the subminiature class, except for some special reason; the
negative is so small that enlargement potential is seriously
limited. And ordinary people, if they bother to think about
it, think spies use tiny cameras that can be hidden. If you
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go around more or less like a tourist with a popular-sized one
you avoid being conspicuous.
There are many publications on cameras and photographic
techniques, on special lenses, on the respective advantages of
black-and-white and color, of fine-grain and fast film. I
haven't tried to touch on these subjects. All I have tried to
do is point out that an opportunity exists for travellers in-
terested in photography to make a considerable contribution
to basic intelligence through collecting ground photos. I col-
lected them because I thought it important, because it helped
me learn about the place where I was living, and because it
was fun.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Guide for Graphics Coordinators. INR/State, October 1960. An
excellent new handbook.
A Manual for the Collection of Ground Photography and Related Data.
Bureau of Aeronautics, NAVAER 10-35-650, March 1953. This is
the best previous guide, illustrating many techniques and giving
many examples.
Techniques for Producing Good Ground Photography for Intelligence
Purposes. Secret. Photographic Intelligence Memorandum,
CIA/ORR, GP/I-198, 18 July 1956.
Volume 4-Political Affairs, of Foreign Service Manual. TL:PA-28,
7-25-60.
A Guide to the Collection of Ground Intelligence Photography on Ports
and Harbors. Confidential. Photographic Intelligence Memoran-
dum, CIA/ORR, PIM-2, September 1957.
Amateur Photography from Commercial Aircraft. Secret. Photo-
graphic Intelligence Memorandum, CIA/ORR, GP/I-205, 14 August
1956.
Intelligence Collection Guidance Manual-Intelligence Photography.
Confidential. Air Force Manual 200-9, 1 February 1955.
Intelligence Collection Guidance Manual-Industrial Recognition. Air
Force Manual 200-7, 15 December 1955.
Intelligence Collection Guide-Telecommunications. Confidential.
Army Pamphlet 30-100, July 1955.
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