Photo Psychic

TV detectives have unusually good luck with photographs. When they're talking to a witness in the witness's home or office, out of all the photos available the detective will pick one out—usually a perfectly unremarkable one showing some person with his arm around the witness's shoulder—and ask, "Who's this?", and the answer will be relevant to the mystery at hand. Often it's not even a question, the detective is just admiring the photo.

""That's a beautiful woman." "Oh yes, that's the victim's fiance.""

What is very helpful is the way the witness will volunteer more information than any real person would. Instead of "That's my mother," they will answer, "That's my mother. This was taken just before she was torn apart by wolves."

Sherlock Holmes had similar luck with a photograph in The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, making this Older Than Radio.

Related to the Law of Conservation of Detail.

Anime and Manga

 * A dark one in Romantic Killer; Kazuki's

Comic Books

 * Batman has done this a few times, as is befitting the Caped Crusader. In one case, Vicki Vale while photographing the homeless for a piece came across incriminating clues for a bigger crime. Batman rescued her, and they learned Scarecrow was behind it.

Film

 * In Zootopia, Judy views a photo of a missing Mr. Otterton, and the blurry photo is her only lead. She then grabs an empty bottle and looks through it as if it were a telescope, spotting a very familiar fox. Cue her deputizing Nick as her partner, to find Mr. Otterton.

Literature

 * This is Cam Jansen's whole deal; owing to her photographic memory, Cam can remember specific details from an incident if she remember to take a "photo" of it with her mind. In one story, she's bringing a handmade camera to her school's science fair, and a random person steals it after she uses the camera to take a picture of her best friend. When Cam realizes the film is missing, she remembers that she also took a mental photograph and recalls what it showed: the man committing burglar. Another has her realize that a clown bumping into people at the circus is pickpocketing them when she realizes that she saw the clown reach into their pockets.

Live-Action TV

 * Brooklyn Nine Nine is very fond of this trope, courtesy of Jake Peralta:
 * When Jake is holding a suspect that he arrested about a year ago for questioning, he manages to nail the guy by using photos he took and connecting him with a suspected bank robber.
 * Jake takes selfies and posts them to social media while investigating someone sabotaging him. They end up saving him because

Western Animation

 * In DuckTales, the triplets do this a few times:
 * One time was with a "Spooky painting" after Scrooge is infected with a perfume that compels him to give money away. The kids work with Detective Jones where they find a painting in Dr. Jekyll's lair. Detective Jones points out that the painting shows a door near the fireplace, but in the lair there is no door. They uncover a Secret Passage.
 * In another, Glomgold frames Scrooge for stealing a painting from him, using security footage from his art gallery. The kids examine the footage after their uncle is sentenced, using a magnifying glass. They see Glomgold in the reflection taking off his Scrooge disguise, providing that Scrooge was innocent.
 * A variant not with a photo. In season two of Gravity Falls, Dipper laments that thanks to, there is no way to find the author's identity. Mabel then looks at the through a bottle she received from Mermando, and urges Dipper to look.