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The Morbidly Fascinating Page

The Morbidly Fascinating Page

This Month's Subject:

Early Spirit Photography

IN THE ARCHIVES:

Accidental Victim Photos
Head Dents
Ghosts of Alcatraz
Fox Mulder
X-Rays
Werewolf Syndrome
Jack the Ripper's Victims
The Elephant Man

19th CENTURY FAKE PHOTOS TAKEN BY MANY DIFFERENT SO-CALLED SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHERS

How many of you have seen this photo of the Webtown Ghost-Girl?

web webtown

Here's the real girl:

real girl

Double Exposures

1 2

3

4

9

5

In this one, you can actually see legs under the sheet:

legs

Spirit mediums (between 1900 and 1930):

ectoplasm face

811

I believe this one is real (below), don't you?

12

See more fake ghost photos HERE

One specific example of a photographer's adventures in producing fake ghost photos

In 1861 William Mumler was working as a jewelry engraver in Boston and dabbling in photography on the side. One day, after developing a self-portrait, he noticed what appeared to be the shadowy figure of a young girl floating beside his own likeness. Mumler assumed it was an accident, the trace of an earlier negative made with the same plate, but friends told him the figure resembled his dead cousin. Soon the unusual photo (below) came to the attention of the spiritualist community, who proclaimed it to be the first photo ever taken of a spirit.

Mumler

Mumler took advantage of the interest in the photo to go into business as the world's first spirit photographer. He grew wealthy producing spirit photos for grief-stricken clients who had lost relatives in the Civil War.

However, Mumler attracted an enormous number of critics as well as supporters. Some members of the spiritualist community accused him of fraud, alleging that the "spirits" in his photo resembled people who were not only still alive, but who had sat for him recently. Rival photographers grew increasingly alarmed at his popularity, believing that he was blackening the reputation of the profession.
 
In 1869, after moving to New York City, he was brought up on charges of fraud by the police department who had sent an undercover agent to sit for him. The resulting trial pitted believers in spiritualism against supporters of scientific rationalism. The prosecution brought in professional photographers who explained how Mumler could have easily created the spirit-photo effect through the use of double exposure. The photographer Abraham Bogardus prepared a "fake" spirit photo (below) in which the ghostly image of Abraham Lincoln could be seen floating behind the shoulder of the notorious showman P.T. Barnum.

mumler barnum

However, Mumler's defense team brought in many of his clients who testified that they believed his spirit photos to be real. In the end, Mumler was acquitted.

After the trial, Mumler moved back to Boston. It was here, around 1871, that he produced his most famous photo (below) when Lincoln's widow, Mary Todd Lincoln, showed up at his studio. It is believed to be the last photo ever taken of Mrs. Lincoln, who died in 1882.

mumler lincoln

Mumler published an autobiography in 1875, but his career was in decline. He stopped producing spirit photos in 1879. When he died in 1884 he was, by most accounts, penniless.

See the article HERE