Spirit Photography

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Spirit Photography refers to the use of photographic technology to document the existence of the occult. While this topic necessarily includes the study of the photographic medium and occultism, spirit photography is characterized by the intersection of the two. It can be defined more specifically as the recording of phenomena that may or may not be visible to the human eye using sensitive surfaces with or without the use of a camera.

History

The history of spirit photography owes to the history of both photography and occultism separately. But both have deep, rich ancestry that can be rigorously studied separately. The best understanding of spirit photography is that it is a societal application of a popular technology and thus, an extended look into the origins of either photography or occultism becomes increasingly irrelevant as the intersection of the two renders its own history more important.

Photography was truly born in 1839, but the life of spirit photography occurred between 1860 and 1930. This isn't to say there were never any instances before the invention of photography or after the death of spirit photography. But this time period was the height of spiritual photography because it brought together the most severe factors from the technological and sociological aspects of the medium.

The American Spiritualist Movement, known commonly as spiritualism, swept across America in the 1850s. It was triggered by the claims of the Fox sisters in Hydesdale, New York, that they could communicate with the dead. From this one startling anecdote developed a full-fledged movement of belief. Eventually, spiritualism became such a large force in society that it came to symbolize liberal-leaning political views. As this system of belief gained more attention, pioneers in photography took the opportunity to use the public's fascination to their advantage. Their experimental documentations of the spiritual world helped to give credibility to the movement while the movement garnered even more interest in photography's role. In a sense, the two worked to foster the other's growth.

William H Mumler is credited as being the first photographer to claim to capture an image with the company of a ghost or spirit. He worked in America in the 1860s. His work was followed by that of Frederick Hudson and Edouard Isidore Buguet in Europe a little later in the early 1870s. As was characteristic of early spirit photography, these men used it to document ghosts and spirits themselves. But as time went on, people began using it for purposes of research. The greatest developments of experimental use of spirit photography came around the turn of the century with the work of Karl von Reichenbach. But the history of spirit photography would not be complete without acknowledging the extensive documentation of famous mediums such as Florence Cook, Eusapia Palladino, and Marthe Beraud who used spirit photography as a way to record their practices and rituals more than evidence of the occult.

Types

Because spirit photography is a wide-ranging cluster of different media encompassing many different kinds of photographs and spirits, it is best categorized in the three types of photographic content, which happen to relate chronologically.

Photographs of Spirits

The very first type of spirit photography sought to capture visual images of ghosts and spirits, usually alongside living subjects. In many cases, photographers attempted to conjure up images of deceased relatives in an attempt to communicate with the dead.

Photographs of Vital Forces

During the last decades of the 19th century, photographs of vital forces became widely popular. Vital forces include anything from emotions and thoughts to"fluids" emanating from the medium. This type of photography elicited the most public debate because it pitted the spiritualists who believed in phenomena from the beyond against the animists who believed the mediums themselves were responsible for producing visual images. This type of spirit photography gave rise to experimentalist ideas about the invisible and eventually led to the death of the medium.

Photographs of Spiritual Activities

This last type actually occurred from the beginning of spirit photography's peak period until its end. It includes any attempt by the medium to document himself or herself performing spiritualistic acts. This could include levitation, seances, or transfiguration. In this type, there is less emphasis on the occult itself or trying to prove the existence of an invisible occult than there is on the actual process of documenting the spiritualistic activities.

Public Consumption and Debate

State v. Mumler

Sociological Factors

Death

Future

Art & Invention