Final answer:
Photography as phrenology ties back to the 19th-century pseudoscience where skull measurements were thought to reveal character traits, including criminal tendencies.
Step-by-step explanation:
Photography as phrenology refers to the outdated and pseudoscientific practice of determining a person's character or criminality based on the physical appearance of their skull. The belief was that the bumps and shape of the skull could reveal personality traits and tendencies, including criminal behavior. This was part of a broader trend in the 19th century to understand and categorize human behavior.
Phrenology became prominent in the early 19th century with the work of Franz Gall, who suggested that the skull's surface contours indicated underlying brain functions. Despite its initial popularity, phrenology was eventually discredited. However, it influenced other areas, such as criminal profiling. In modern times, criminal profiling attempts to understand the psychological aspects of offenders, while geographic profiling uses spatial patterns to predict criminal behavior.