Dieselpunk + Steampunk Culture
Spiritualism and Mediums
Welcome to October.
This month, I hope to entertain everyone with some choice photos from my spirit photography & mediums collection.
Photography was still an alchemical science in the steam era, and everyone knows that mixing science with religion produces some wacky results. The religious movement of choice in the States during the late 1800's - early 1900's was Spiritualism.
Spiritualists believe in communicating with the spirits of discarnate humans (ghosts) via "spirit mediums" (spiritually gifted living humans). They believe that spirits are capable of moral and spiritual growth and perfection in the afterlife and that they can communicate what they've learned to the living.
Spiritualism developed in the United States and reached its peak growth in membership from the 1840s to the 1920s, especially in English-language countries. By 1897, it was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe, mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes.
The religion flourished for a half century without canonical texts or formal organization, attaining cohesion by periodicals, tours by trance lecturers, camp meetings, and the missionary activities of accomplished mediums. By the late 1880s, credibility of the informal movement weakened, due to accusations of fraud among mediums, and formal Spiritualist organizations began to appear.
Fraud you say!?!
I'm afraid so.
Starting with William H. Mumler, the young science of photography was turned into a money making grifter's game against the Spiritualist believers. With a few darkroom techniques and a flair for the dramatic, a dishonest photographer could make your deceased loved ones (or someone from his clip-art collection) appear to be floating alongside you in your very portrait!
These flim flam men would then sell the doctored memento moris to the unsuspecting family as the real deal, making a mint in the process. While some are fairly awful and clearly frauds (I'm looking at you Ghost of Abe Lincoln), others were quite spooky and artistic in their own right.
Enjoy!
This month, I hope to entertain everyone with some choice photos from my spirit photography & mediums collection.
Photography was still an alchemical science in the steam era, and everyone knows that mixing science with religion produces some wacky results. The religious movement of choice in the States during the late 1800's - early 1900's was Spiritualism.
Spiritualists believe in communicating with the spirits of discarnate humans (ghosts) via "spirit mediums" (spiritually gifted living humans). They believe that spirits are capable of moral and spiritual growth and perfection in the afterlife and that they can communicate what they've learned to the living.
Spiritualism developed in the United States and reached its peak growth in membership from the 1840s to the 1920s, especially in English-language countries. By 1897, it was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe, mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes.
The religion flourished for a half century without canonical texts or formal organization, attaining cohesion by periodicals, tours by trance lecturers, camp meetings, and the missionary activities of accomplished mediums. By the late 1880s, credibility of the informal movement weakened, due to accusations of fraud among mediums, and formal Spiritualist organizations began to appear.
Fraud you say!?!
I'm afraid so.
Starting with William H. Mumler, the young science of photography was turned into a money making grifter's game against the Spiritualist believers. With a few darkroom techniques and a flair for the dramatic, a dishonest photographer could make your deceased loved ones (or someone from his clip-art collection) appear to be floating alongside you in your very portrait!
These flim flam men would then sell the doctored memento moris to the unsuspecting family as the real deal, making a mint in the process. While some are fairly awful and clearly frauds (I'm looking at you Ghost of Abe Lincoln), others were quite spooky and artistic in their own right.
Enjoy!
Ada Emma Deane, "Spirit Photograph" 1920-23, detail from cat. 28
Comment
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Comment by Tome Wilson on October 1, 2009 at 10:18pm -
You're in for a treat then, Dizzy. Jessica Pepper, an extraordinary photographer from New York, is helping us write an article right now about making your own spirit photos. It should be ready within the next week.
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Comment by Dizzy on October 1, 2009 at 8:05pm -
oooh fun! hmmm great now I want to try to create my own spirtit photos in photoshop..... yea inspiration!
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