Spirit photography (also called ghost photography ) is a type of photography whose primary goal is to capture images of ghosts and other spiritual entities , especially in ghost hunting . It dates back to the late 19th century. The end of the American Civil War and the mid-19th Century Spiritualism movement contributed greatly to the popularity of spirit photography. The omnipresence of death in the Victorian period created a desire for evidence of the afterlife, and those who partook in Spirit Photography oftentimes hoped to receive images that depicted the likeness of a deceased relative or loved one. Photographers such as William Mumler and William Hope ran thriving businesses taking photos of people with their supposed dead relatives. Both were shown to be frauds, but "true believers", such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , refused to accept the evidence as proof of a hoax.
49-631: William Hope (1863 – 8 March 1933) was a pioneer of so-called " spirit photography ". Based in Crewe , England, he was a member of the well known spiritualists group, the Crewe Circle. He died in Salford hospital on 8 March 1933. As a young man Hope was employed as a carpenter, but he quickly came to prominence in paranormal circles after claiming to be able to capture images of spirits on camera. Hope produced his first spirit image in 1905. Soon afterwards he formed
98-429: A conspiracy that Price and other researchers had framed Hope. On this, Massimo Polidoro has written "the case of William Hope and his Crewe Circle deserves to be remembered today because it shows that it is practically impossible (and futile) to try to convince someone who wants to believe even in the face of quite convincing contrary evidence." Hope's exposures were discussed in detail by James Black in an article for
147-477: A Ghost In Your Photo , "Asserting that a particular image must be paranormal because it is unexplained only constitutes an example of the logical fallacy called arguing from ignorance." They explain that the flash reflecting off a camera strap can produce a bright, white strand or a "spiralling vortex of spirit energy" depending upon the material the strap is made from. Other ghostly images can result from strands of hair, jewelry or flying insects. A flash illuminating
196-562: A distinction between spirit photography and ghost photography in his book The Science of Ghosts: Searching for Spirits of the Dead , stating that spirit photography began in studios and eventually included ghosts photographed in séance rooms, whereas ghost photographs were taken in places that were considered haunted. Nickell states "...whereas spirit photos were invariably charlatans' productions, ghost photos could either be faked or appear inadvertently – as by reflection, accidental double exposure, or
245-455: A drunken girl and her friend. Smartphone applications that place images of ghosts, aliens and monsters into actual pictures have been used for pranks or to try to fool people into thinking they are real images of ghosts. The apps are customizable allowing the user to place the ghost anywhere within a photo, rotate it, adjust its transparency, and erase parts. In 2014, there were over 250 ghost related applications for Android phones, one of
294-522: A ghost's elbow or foot are rarely reported. In 2016, tourist Henry Yau took a picture of a staircase with a ghostly figure inside the Stanley Hotel in Colorado . The hotel is well known for its apparent hauntings. Several amateur ghost hunters believe the photo to be unexplainable and believe that a ghost or possibly two ghosts are at the top of the stairs. According to paranormal investigator Kenny Biddle,
343-527: A mysterious, apparent ghostly hand sitting on the shoulder of one of the girls. The hand does not appear to belong to anyone in the picture. Biddle decided the photo was authentic and provides evidence that someone was most likely removed from the photo in his article The 'Ghost Hand' of 1900 in Skeptical Inquirer . He describes how retouching photos by hand using a retouching desk, cutting out objects and people, then filling them in with pencil or charcoal
392-400: A night scene. This overlay was clearly evident due to the lack of image noise where the faces appear, compared to the rest of the photo. An old photograph taken in 1900 became popular within the paranormal community after it was posted on the website Belfast.co.uk in 2016 in a history section about old Belfast trades. The photo shows a group of Ulster girls from a linen factory. There is
441-691: A person's breath in cold weather, cigarette smoke or fog can look like "ectoplasmic mist". Long exposures, usually several seconds, can cause ethereal, see-through shapes or streaks of lines caused when the camera moves or if the object moves during the exposure. Ben Radford, in his book "Big – If True: Adventures in Oddity" includes the phenomenon called pareidolia, the tendency for people to see faces or animals in things such as clouds, tree trunks or food, as an explanation for finding ghosts in photographs. Shadows from trees, uneven surfaces, reflections of light from water or glass can all make us see "faces". He notes that
490-565: A pre-exposed image that would move into place when he took his photo. In 1875, Édouard Buguet , a French spirit photographer, who also had a studio in London, was arrested in Paris and prosecuted for fraud after making a full confession. He simulated spirits by wrapping dolls in gauze and attaching photos of faces onto them. His confession was widely publicized in the French and English press. In 1891 one of
539-430: A result of flash photography reflecting light off solid particles, such as dust, pollen, insects or liquid particles, especially rain, or even foreign material within the camera lens. These effects are especially common with modern compact and ultra-compact digital cameras . Fujifilm describes the artifacts as a common photographic problem. According to Kenny Biddle and Joe Nickell in their article So You Have
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#1733085910176588-575: A rival to the Society for Psychical Research . The first President of the SSSP was physician Abraham Wallace. Henry Blackwell, Arthur Conan Doyle and W. G. Mitchell were Vice-Presidents. According to photographer Martyn Jolly, "The SPR successfully exposed as frauds several spirit photographers supported by the SSSP." One of these was the photographer William Hope . Members of the SSSP such as Arthur Conan Doyle and honorary secretary Fred Barlow stated that
637-526: A series of images called "The Ghost in the Stereoscope". The adoption of glass-plate negative processes around 1859 made it practical to reuse an exposure plate, with the possibility of prior images remaining visible; it was this effect that early spirit photographers relied on to create their images. As cameras fell in price and became more widespread, spirit photography boomed, although the methods could be crude. The phenomenon did not start to decline until
686-474: A servant, had walked into the room and paused, causing the ghostly outline. One of the most famous photographers at the turn of the century was William Hope . In February 1922, Harry Price from the Society for Psychical Research , a magician named Seymour, Eric J. Dingwall and William S. Marriott showed Hope to be a fraud. They devised a plan where they presented Hope with glass negatives that had secretly been marked with X-rays. The returned plate containing
735-468: A supernatural connection with relatives killed in the American Civil War . One of Mumler's most famous images is a photograph of Mary Todd Lincoln posed with the purported spirit of her assassinated husband . The apparent spirits that Mumler had captured were double exposures of previous clients from photographic plates that were improperly cleaned. In 1869, Mumler's fraud was discovered and he
784-581: A well known spiritualist group of the time. Other spiritualists who authored books supporting spirit photography were Georgiana Houghton who wrote Chronicles of the Photographs of Spiritual Beings and Phenomena Invisible to the Material Eye (1882) and James Coates who wrote Photographing the Invisible (1911). So what would be good photographic proof of ghosts? An authentic photograph of anyone born before
833-404: Is holding something in her hands. To me it looks like she is wearing a wedding dress like she's waiting to get married. She looks like a ghostly bride." Biddle noted some unusual things with the image. The camera level seemed too low for a security camera, there were no dates or times on the image as would normally be seen from security software, and the image was in colour except for the area around
882-481: Is strong evidence of fraud. Other spirit photographers exposed as frauds include David Duguid and Edward Wyllie . Ronald Pearsall exposed the tricks of spirit photography in his book The Table-Rappers (1972). There were several books published defending the possibility of spirit photography. Among the notable books were The Case for Spirit Photography by Arthur Conan Doyle , published in 1922 where Doyle attempted to defend William Hope and his Crewe Circle,
931-459: Is true. Others, such as the owners of pubs, hotels or ghost hunting tours will try to profit from the photos by increasing their clientele or raising their prices. Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures The Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures (SSSP) was a short-lived psychical organization that formed in 1918 to investigate claims of spirit photography . It was established as
980-486: The Scientific American in 1922. He concluded that Hope was a "common cheat who obtains money under false pretenses." Fred Barlow, a former friend and supporter of Hope's work and also the former Secretary of the Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures , along with Major W. Rampling-Rose, gave a joint lecture to the Society for Psychical Research to present findings gleaned from an extensive series of tests on
1029-529: The daguerreotype process. In this and other early processes, the image was developed directly from the exposure plate, so multiple exposure did not normally occur. Yet, since they required long exposures, it was possible for passing movement to leave a faint image, and they were able to capture reflections in the manner of Pepper's ghost . Sir David Brewster , in 1856, recognized that these effects could be used deliberately to create ghostly pictures. The London Stereoscopic Company used Brewster's idea to create
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#17330859101761078-523: The "ghost" looked like a well documented photo called The Madonna of Bachelor's Grove taken by the Ghost Research Society in 1991. It is unclear if the Ghosts of New England Research Society posted the photos knowing they were hoaxes or if they were fooled by the restaurant owner who sent them the photo. It was determined that the app was using The Madonna of Bachelor's Grove without permission and
1127-402: The "ghosts" could have been created because the camera was in panorama mode, which takes several seconds, and which can cause a double image from the longer exposure. Biddle believes that the image represents the same person moving on the stairs. Ben Radford indicates that the way the woman on the stairs is dressed and the location add to the possibility that people will jump to the conclusion that
1176-542: The 1920s after skeptics such as Harry Houdini tried to counteract spiritualistic fraud. An American jewelry engraver and amateur photographer named William Mumler published, in 1862, a photograph of what was purportedly the spirit of his cousin, who had died 12 years earlier. The media sensation that this caused led Mumler to leave engraving and to begin a successful business as a "Spirit Photographic Medium", which he set up in New York and Boston servicing those hoping to find
1225-529: The 1990s television shows such as Ghost Hunters claimed the abnormalities represented proof of the afterlife. In his book Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits Ben Radford states that most evidence of ghosts in photographs or video are "...brief, ambiguous anomalies recorded with low-quality camera (or good-quality cameras sabotaged by low light conditions)." Radford believes that with camera technology advancing, especially with smart phones, there should be clearer, sharper images of ghosts. But
1274-557: The Crewe Circle Spiritualist group, with himself as the leader. In 1916, Hope managed to dupe William Crookes with a fake spirit photograph of his wife. Oliver Lodge revealed there had been obvious signs of double exposure – the picture of Lady Crookes had been copied from a wedding anniversary photograph. However, Crookes was a convinced spiritualist and claimed it was genuine evidence for spirit photography. Doubts were also raised about his spirit photography in 1908. Hope
1323-577: The brand image of the Imperial Dry Plate Co. Ltd. in the knowledge that the logo would be transferred to any images created with them. Unaware that Price had tampered with his supplies, Hope then attempted to produce a number of spirit photographs. Although Hope produced several images of spirits, none of his materials contained the Imperial Dry Plate Co. Ltd logo, or the marks that Price had put on Hope's original equipment, showing that he had exchanged prepared materials containing fake spirit images for
1372-456: The exposure "any reasonable person will say that Mr Bush had proved his case." In 1921, Mr DeVaga, a friend of the magician Harry Houdini , attended a sitting with Hope. DeVaga found the dark conditions in the room suspicious and suspected that Hope had switched a plate. In February 1922, the Society for Psychical Research and the paranormal investigator Harry Price with James Seymour, Eric Dingwall and William Marriott demonstrated that Hope
1421-514: The extensive series of experiments they had conducted with Hope all the "spirit extras" they had obtained could have been fraudulently produced." During his photography sessions, Hope would sometimes carry out prayers and religious hymns. A 1969 entry for Hope in The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography described him as "undoubtedly a schizophrenic. On one side of his character was an alert, witty and patently honest North- countryman, whilst on
1470-486: The invention of photography would be a good start: Benjamin Franklin, William Shakespeare, or any of thousands of other people for whom we have a good record of their likeness but no photograph. Just one such photo would be more convincing than a thousand glowing blobs. Unfortunately, all the ghost photos offered so far are indistinguishable from intentional fakes and optical mistakes. Paranormal investigator Joe Nickell makes
1519-517: The like." Once portable cameras became available to amateurs towards the end of the 1880s ghost photos became more frequent. In more modern times, cameras with built in flashes produced what some believed to be ectoplasm, or " orbs ". Most ghost photos fall into one of two categories. They are either hazy, indistinct shapes that look human or orbs that are usually white and round. Both can easily be purposefully or accidentally created. Photograph anomalies have always been present in photography but in
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1568-599: The methods Hope used to produce his spirit photographs . They concluded that the spirits that appeared in Hope's photographs were produced fraudulently. In 1933, Hope was discredited when the pair presented their case in depth against him in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research . The psychical researcher Eric Dingwall also noted another exposure. It involved James Hewat McKenzie who had discovered fraud but failed to make it public. According to Paul Tabori: In 1933
1617-492: The most famous spirit photographs was taken by Sybell Corbet. She took a photo of the library at Combermere Abbey in Cheshire , England in which appeared the "...faint outline of a man's head, collar and right arm". The figure was believed to be the ghost of Lord Combermere who had recently died and was being buried at the time the photo was taken. Because the exposure was one hour, it was believed by skeptics that someone, possibly
1666-440: The most popular being GhostCam: Spirit Photography . This app was used in a hoax that was used to generate publicity. The group named Ghosts of New England Research Society began publishing hoaxed ghost photos as authentic, hoping to promote an episode of Discovery Channel's American Haunting that the group appeared in. The photo showed a ghostly figure in a restaurant. Biddle spotted the forgery on Facebook and noticed that
1715-577: The other hand there was the bogus medium who used prayers and psalm-singing as a cloak for his fraudulent operations." Examples of Hope's work. Spirit photography As cameras became available to the general public, ghost photographs became common due to natural camera artifacts such as flash reflecting off dust particles, a camera strap or hair close to the lens, lens flare , pareidolia , or in modern times, deceptions using smart phone applications that add ghosts images to existing photographs. The first practical photography, introduced in 1839, used
1764-564: The paranormal is at work. He states "she seems to be wearing a classic black or dark dress (as befits a fancy, well-known hotel); had she been wearing a yellow blazer and carrying a large Target shopping bag speculations about her spectral origins would likely have been scuttled." According to Biddle, author Tim Scullion claims that he has taken pictures of ghosts. Biddle explains that Scullion's ghosts are produced by using long exposures showing motion blur, light painting , dust particles catching light, lens flare , or by overlaying blurry faces on
1813-462: The photographs of the Cottingley Fairies were genuine. In May, 1920 the organization reported that they had obtained evidence for paranormally produced photographs under test conditions. This opinion was rejected by other psychical researchers and in 1923 the organization dissolved. Barlow was originally supportive of spirit photography but later reversed his opinion. In 1933 he co-authored
1862-549: The photos remain low quality and vague. According to University of Westminster professor Annette Hill, unusual light sources were often interpreted as "ghost lights" in spirit photography. Hill says that with the advent of digital photography , "the ghost light is re-imagined as an orb", and many paranormal-themed websites show pictures containing visual artifacts they refer to as "orbs" that are claimed and debated as evidence of spirit presence, especially among ghost hunters . However, such common visual artifacts are simply
1911-609: The provided materials. Price later re-published the Society's experiment in a pamphlet of his own called Cold Light on Spiritualistic "Phenomena" - An Experiment with the Crewe Circle. Due to the exposure of Hope and other fraudulent spiritualists, Arthur Conan Doyle led a mass resignation of eighty-four members of the Society for Psychical Research, as they believed the Society was opposed to spiritualism. Doyle threatened to have Price evicted from his laboratory and claimed if he persisted to write "sewage" about spiritualists, he would meet
1960-405: The rest of the picture was in colour and the ghost was calculated to be about 11 feet tall. As of 2018, the appeal and novelty of the ghost cam apps has begun to wear off, although there are still people who will attempt to pass off the results of these apps as authentic. Pranksters will try to fool their friends or families but sometimes the prank can go too far when their targets believe the hoax
2009-401: The same fate as Harry Houdini. Doyle and other spiritualists attacked Price and tried for years to have Price take his pamphlet out of circulation. Price wrote "Arthur Conan Doyle and his friends abused me for years for exposing Hope." Despite Price's findings, Hope still retained a noted following amongst spiritualists. Doyle refused to accept any evidence that Hope was a fraud and even invoked
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2058-531: The spirit had no markings. Price wrote his findings in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research . Despite this proof, prominent spiritualists, such as Arthur Conan Doyle , claimed the report was a part of a conspiracy against Hope. Hope had continued success despite the evidence against him. Paranormal investigator Massimo Polidoro said that the case of William Hope and his followers demonstrate how difficult it can be to convince true believers, even when there
2107-532: The widow of the proprietor of the British College for Psychic Science (where Price's séance with Hope took place) admitted in an article that after the sitting her husband went through Hope's luggage and "found in a suitcase a flash lamp with a bulb attached, some cut-out photographic heads and some hair". These basic facts were suppressed in 1922 and William Hope wasn't "laid-low" conclusively until 1944 when Fred Barlow and W. Rampling-Rose proved finally that during
2156-401: The woman. Biddle surmised that the camera was in an infrared night vision mode and a flash was fired, explaining the overexposure of the figure and the colour distortion. Biddle reached out to Stewart Chapman, who had installed a permanent closed-circuit television system above the other system, and had posted two screen shots of a girl in a red dress showing it was not a ghost on the property but
2205-518: Was charged. He was acquitted, however, despite the evidence provided that one of his so-called spirits was shown to be still alive. P.T. Barnum , who testified against Mumler, was one of his outspoken critics, declaring he was taking advantage of people's grief. Mumler later moved on to doing regular photography. Spirit photography started appearing in England in 1872 from photographer Fredrick Hudson 's studios. He allegedly "gimmicked" his camera to hold
2254-452: Was first exposed in 1920 by Edward Bush who had caught Hope out by using a trap. He used the fake name "Wood" and sent a letter to Hope with a photograph of a living person which he pretended was his deceased son. He later attended a sitting with Hope. Hope produced a "spirit" extra which was exactly the same as the photograph he had sent Hope and on it were the words "Dear friend Wood". The psychical researcher Whately Carington wrote regarding
2303-509: Was fraudulent during tests at the British College of Psychic Science . Price wrote in his report "William Hope has been found guilty of deliberately substituting his own plates for those of a sitter... It implies that the medium brings to the sitting a duplicate slide and faked plates for fraudulent purposes." Price secretly marked Hope's photographic plates, and provided him with a packet of additional plates that had been covertly etched with
2352-540: Was not uncommon. On August 18, 2020 a security firm received an alert at a construction site in Birmingham, England. On the monitor appeared the "ghostly" figure of a lone woman in a white dress walking across the property. The image went viral and appeared in many tabloids such as the Mirror . Adam Lees, the managing director of a security firm who received the alert, stated "She's leaning forward and seems to be floating, and
2401-457: Was removed after this incident. Another app called Ghost Camera Prank was used by a ghost tour group Facebook page, claiming a client had taken it. Tkay Anderson, co-founder of the Facebook page There's a (ghost) App For That was able to find the specific ghost used in the faked photo. Other clues were that the "ghost" was sharper than the rest of the picture, the ghost was black and white while
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