"A mindful approach to Forensic Art."
Gil Zamora is a mindful forensic sketch artist, speaker, and avid reader on how we see ourselves and others. Gil has been a sketch artist since 1995 and has worked with the most accomplished investigators in northern California.
In the most recent publication: Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification, (2014) they make eleven important recommendations to law enforcement on how to handle eyewitness memory. The list of contributors is a who’s who of eyewitness memory research...
Read MoreWhen you interview as many people as I have you often get asked: were they (the eyewitness) telling the truth? For the first few years I relied on my gut feeling to answer that question; eventually I decided to take a more scientific approach to see if I could remove my visceral opinion. I’ve been an armchair psychologist since completing my BA in Behavioral Sciences and Criminology in 2001, so I approached this issue as a study project.
Read MoreNot only did I have the most amazing experience at the Golden Door spa, but I also learned something about my Perspective Sketches. I realized after my second presentation that I had left out an important aspect of the sketch interviews. I interviewed the guests at the Golden Door just like I had in the Real Beauty Sketches (RBS) video. I interviewed a total of 12 guests during Women’s Week. Ten of them were self-describers and four of them described other guests. This was the first time I had conducted my Perspective Sketches in a spa setting.
Read MoreAs the forensic artist for the Real Beauty Sketches campaign of 2013 I continue to receive many interesting opportunities. A few months ago I received an email from the Golden Door spa. They asked if I would come to their location and conduct some sketches and speak to their guests. When I learned more about the Golden Door experience I was left with no choice but to accept their invitation.
Read MoreWhen you are at the center of self criticism it’s pretty hard to ignore the facts. As the sketch artist for the Real Beauty Sketches (RBS) campaign I was charged with sketching the details about how these real women saw themselves and how others saw them. As I heard the descriptions of the real women (I could not see them) I could sense the history behind some of the hurtful comments. Some of the real women told me their families and friends had scared them with their ignorant comments , while the others focused on boyfriends that highlighted their imperfections.
Read MoreWhen I think about the verbal overshadowing phenomenon I wonder why we, as sketch artists, are able to create sketches of suspects with remarkable likenesses. If the act of verbalizing the description of the face causes issues with recognition later in the photo lineup, why hasn't the practice of the sketch interview been scrutinized?
Read MoreIn my last blog I talked about using a sketch to identifying a suspect. We can see, in the Artus Bandit robbery case, how a reliable sketch can be used to identify a suspect. I’d like to share more video clips with you about the symbiotic nature between the detective and the patrol officers on the street as they go about utilizing the cognitive sketch. Over the years I‘ve had people criticize the sketches they’ve seen in the media, and many of these critics have asked me to comment on the sketch.
Read MoreOver the years I’ve been asked, “so do you ever catch anyone with your sketches?” Their tone is skeptical, and they talk about the sketches they’ve seen on the news and marvel at how the police can find someone with that sketch in their hand. I smile and I say that, it all depends on the eyewitness.
Read MoreMy appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 1997 was pretty memorable for me in a couple of ways. One - I was able to show America the issue of cross-race identification to the delight of Dr. Gary Wells (who was seated in the front row of the audience), and Two - my Compositure™ technique for interviewing eyewitnesses was on the air for all to see. In some respects my appearance on the show could have been a disaster, considering my eyewitness apologized for not doing a good job.
Read MoreOver the last two years I’ve been invited to work with a high school teacher in Mora Minnesota. Mr. Larsen teaches a forensic art section to his kids and introduces them to my world of sketching and interviewing. The Real Beauty Sketches campaign of 2013 really gave me some exposure around the world and it prompted Mr. Larsen to congratulate me and then ask me if I would talk to his class about forensic art. I have visited classrooms around the San Jose area since 1996 and really enjoyed talking to the kids and showing my sketch comparisons. The kids loved it and the teachers thought it was a great idea. The one thing that all of the teachers raved about was how engaged the kids were when they participated in the sketch demonstration.
Read More