Spirit photography captures supernatural phenomena such as ghosts, fairies, and auras. While many have been exposed as fakes, some remain unexplained. Victorian spirit photography was popular due to the fad of spiritualism and the large number of mourners following the American Civil War. William Mumler pioneered spirit photography in 1862 and was tried for fraud seven years later. Victorian spirit photographers used tricks such as double exposures and costumed assistants to create partially captured images. Despite fraudulent methods, many spirit photographs have been produced accidentally and continue to baffle experts.
In its broadest sense, spirit photography refers to any type of photography that appears to have captured supernatural phenomena. Examples may include photographs of ghosts, fairies, auras, or thought-created images. Photographs of cryptids, animals without definitive proof of their existence, are not considered photographs of spirits. While many examples of spirit photography over the years have been exposed as fakes, others remain unexplained.
In the Victorian era, in the early days of the art of photography, spirit photography was quite popular. The fad of spiritualism, through which many people attempted to connect with deceased loved ones, was a contributing factor, as was the large number of mourners following the American Civil War. The typical spirit photograph of this era showed a shadowy figure, presumably a deceased relative, standing behind the model.
William Mumler is credited with pioneering spirit photography in 1862. He was tried for fraud seven years later, although he was acquitted for lack of evidence. He took countless photographs of spirits, as well as his many followers. William Mumler’s most famous photograph of the spirit shows Mary Todd Lincoln, the widow of Abraham Lincoln, with her husband’s supposed ghost in the background.
Victorian spirit photographers are now known to have used a number of tricks to fake photographs. Double exposures, achieved by exposing the same piece of film twice, were a common method of producing spirit photography. Since the subject had to sit for about a minute to take a picture in the 19th century, another method had the photographer’s costumed assistant sneak into the background for a few seconds to create a partially captured, obscure image. Skepticism and exposure of these tricks has led to more cunning forms of fraud. Some photographers, for example, have used a sleight of hand to replace photographic plates with retouched ones before developing them. In the 1860s, spirit photography was still popular, but considered more of a novelty than a supernatural phenomenon.
Despite the reputation of such fraudulent methods, many spirit photographs have been and continue to be produced accidentally. Often, mysterious anomalies in photographs can be explained as light reflections, accidental double exposure, or similar problems, but many spirit photographs baffle even experts. Two of the most famous examples are the photo of the Brown Lady, taken in 1935 at Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England; and the Greenwich Ghost photographed at Queen’s House in Greenwich, London in 1966. Both photographs have been claimed to be unintentional by the photographers, and neither has ever been conclusively explained.
While the quintessential image in spirit photography is perhaps that of a humanoid figure, many spirit photographs simply show strange patches of light that can be interpreted as ghosts, auras, or other forms of psychic energy. Even one of the most famous photographic frauds in history, the Cottingley Fairies, could also be considered a type of spirit photography. Other photographs of spirits, sometimes called psychic photographs, supposedly show images created by the mind. This type of photography is called nensha in Japanese and the most famous examples were created in Japan in the early 20th century under the study of Professor Tomokichi Fukurai.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
