A forensic archive of photographs: the visual narratives of graffiti investigations in socialist Hungary

During the socialist period in Hungary, state security authorities systematically monitored and prosecuted what they classified as ‘hostile’ activities, including written forms of political dissent, such as graffiti. The resulting case files, now preserved in the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security, contain written records, as well as various objects typically confiscated, recorded, or produced during the examination of crime scenes. Drawing on approaches from the sociology of materiality, this paper explores the narratives embedded in these artefacts. Particular emphasis is placed on forensic photographs, which, following the theories of Sekula and Tagg, are understood not as neutral evidence, but as visual constructions shaped by the logic of the state security apparatus. At the same time, the paper argues that these materials reveal more than the operation of power alone: they also expose its vulnerabilities, reflected in mistakes, contingencies and accidents. The forensic archive thus emerges as a space where both the mechanisms of control and the fragility of authority become simultaneously visible.