Spirit Photos

Ok, I'll share with you that this week after a sick kid and the winter blues, I haven't felt much inspired to write anything. There is so many topics to choose from, so many photographers to pick out of the line-up, that it felt a bit daunting - to say the least. However I have rallied and have dedicated my Saturday morning to covering a topic that is.... strange, morbid, intriguing and even a bit inspiring. So I hope you enjoy it, maybe just as much as i have enjoyed learning more about....Spiritualistic Photography.

Early photographers we aware that if the the subject moved during the exposure of a plate that ghost-like images would appear. (Could you imaging having to hold still that long?all my pictures would be blurry) It's apparently not real clear (no pun intended :) who the first photographer was to use this quirk as a means to make spirit photographs, but one of the most famous was William Mumler. In 1861, Mumler began producing spirit photographs in his Boston studio. He more than likely used double exposures and other tricks to make these photos. Mumler made a nice living taking pictures of grieving people with their deceased friends and relatives hovering nearby. In fact he even took the infamous photograph of Mary Todd Lincoln in which the supposed spirit of her assassinated husband , President Abraham Lincoln, stands behind her with his hands resting on her shoulders. If I was a widow back then, I suppose this would comfort me....?

From the the mid-19th century thru WW2, photography was not only used to capture the world but also to capture the paranormal world. Photographers found many ways to manipulate photography to make their photos contain, all sorts of spirits, ghosts, auras, and some pretty downright and scary things. The photo below is what intrigued me the most - Back in the day it must have scared the the "you-know-what" out everyone who saw it. Of, course not the photographer - since they new the secrets behind creating it.

It is actually a pretty neat photo Taken by : Eugene Thiebault (born 1825) of Henri Robin and a Specter, 1863. It appears so real - the opaque ghost it truly amazing and the well-to-do man being attacked - gosh, it makes you wonder what he did to deserve that! I also like the fact that the picture it not perfect - check out the lines of the cupboard in the pic. Or maybe the floor is crooked - which could be. Anyway, not being perfect makes it feel even more frantic.

Spirit Photography was very popular, especially when people started the seek contact with their deceased loved ones. Most noticeably during the Civil War, The Bloody Paris Commune and World War 1, and with the development of a new emulsion and the every increasing number of amateur photographers, it seems as though everyone was interested. Because of it popularity, it attracted many who wanted to prove it to be fake. Which of course they did. But who cares, I enjoy this photography because of the mystery behind it. The fact that if affected so many people deeply - imagine - they believed that their loved ones where following, hovering around them.

To some it seems so fake, but to others it is taken literally. And I guess maybe i shouldn't totally discount it, just check the web there are literally dozens of websites dedicated to spirit photography.(actually 4,050,000 references/sites on yahoo to paranormal photography) Shows on Paranormal activity, people using night-vision optics, running through graveyards snapping photos and taking videos of orbs and strange fog. Do they know something I don't - who knows - I just thought that these photos were neat and deserved a bit of attention. So there it is. No fancy video, no major in-depth detail of how you can make a spirit photo yourself - though I have a feeling when we get to our Fast-Slow exposure project - we might see some ghosts... Boo!

Here is a few pictures i found for your enjoyment:

It is truely amazing - how in the photo above the spirts goes from very opaque to almost not opaque at all. It would be fun to recreate a photo like this. It feels so spooky and so serene at the same time.
Honestly - this wouldn't bring me any comfort. I was being a bit sarcastic regarding the Lincoln picture above when I mentioned it. But the picture is very good - the clarity of the spirts face is remarkable and her veil how it is both behind and infront of the subjects is clever.