A couple of years ago there was a show at one of those hidden little galleries at the University of Sydney of modern images replicating the ones which were all the rage during the Victorian age of seances. There have been a couple of recent books published on the subject recently. They don't pretend that there was any authenticity to the photographs.
Apparently one practitioner of the art had the subject clutch the film holder -- loaded with the pre-exposed sheet of the "spirit" -- closely and think of the missing loved one before exposing the film again with the bereaved in portrait pose. All a bit cruel really, but interesting social history.
One of the recent books also shows "ectoplasm" being produced by a medium from a rather intimate part of her anatomy.
I imagine that there was a concurrent link between the developing magic art of photography and the "magic" of spiritualism of the time.
Regards - Ross |