What determines an original for photographic evidence?

• A. A printout that reflects data accurately and is readable by sight
• B. The original film negative
• C. The digital file's metadata
• D. A printout or other output that's readable by sight that reflects data accurately

Answer: (D)

The main idea is that an original for photographic evidence is the form in which the photograph’s information is recorded and preserved in a way that can be read by sight, faithfully reflecting what the camera captured. The best choice defines the original as a printout or other output that accurately reflects the data and is readable by sight, which covers both traditional film and modern digital representations. This broad definition matters because the original isn’t limited to a film negative; any faithful output—whether a print, a scanned image, or a digital display—can serve as the original if it preserves the same information. Metadata alone doesn’t show the image content itself and therefore isn’t the original.