Spirit Photography Helped Grieving Families
While spirit photography seems kitschy and unbelievable by modern standards, it was a soothing balm for grieving families. The strong impact of spirit photography is evident in a heart wrenching letter from a widow to spirit photographer William Hope. He had captured an image of her deceased husband during a portrait session, showing the two side-by-side once again.
She told him it was one of the brightest days of her life. She knew then that her husband was watching over her, and that she wouldn’t feel lonely anymore. Spirit photography’s place in the spiritualism movement cannot be underestimated; at a time when photography was considered second only to being an eyewitness, it was evidence that there was more after death, and that brought comfort and hope to millions of people.
Where did we find this stuff? Select sources and readings
A ghostly image: Spirit photographs. Kristi Finefield, Library of Congress Blogs, 31 October 2011.
Ectoplasm and Ectoplasmic Fakers. James Black, Scientific American, September 1922 (vol. 127(3), pp. 165, 215).
My doubts about spirit photographs. Walter Frankling Prince, Scientific American, December 1925.
The intriguing history of ghost photography. Howard Timberlake, BBC.com, 30m June 2015.
The man who photographed ghosts. Sarah Waldorf, Getty.edu, 27 October 2021.
Why did so many Victorians try to speak with the dead? Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 24.May 2021.
