The Case Against Spirit PhotographsPatrick, C. Vincent
History
The Case Against Spirit Photographs
Patrick, C. Vincent
Parapsychology; Spirit photography; Spiritualism
The other points, taken together, can leave no possible doubt that the
photograph is a fake. It could have been produced by making a positive
enlargement from the negative of Iris on one of the bromide papers
specially prepared for working up. The gnome would then be sketched on
this--he certainly resembles a sketch more than a photograph--and the
whole would then be re-photographed on to a quarter-plate. No doubt an
entirely satisfactory result would not be secured at the first attempt;
in fact, Mr. Gardner tells us that “other photographs were attempted,
but proved partial failures, and plates were not kept.” Surely such
extraordinary photographs, even if partial failures, would be kept--if
they did not show something that was not intended! We have known plates
to be destroyed on other similar occasions, and for similar reasons.
“_Alice and the Fairies_” is of a rather different nature. The lighting
of the fairies is badly wrong; they are brightly illuminated from a
point behind the camera, whereas Alice is less brightly illuminated,
and from the left-hand side. Sir Arthur, in his article, points
out that this is accounted for by the “fairy psychoplasm” having a
“faint luminosity of its own.” To appear brighter than the sitter,
photographed by 1/50th of a second exposure at three o’clock on a sunny
July afternoon, the fairies would have to resemble in luminosity a
battery of arc lights! The photograph appears to have been produced by
pasting the “fairies” on to an enlargement of the original photograph
of Alice, and then re-photographing the whole. The fairies could be
obtained by taking posed photographs of children suitably dressed;
these would then be carefully cut out from their backgrounds and pasted
on to the original enlargement. The points of internal evidence on
which this statement is based are as follows:
1. The very sharp (cut) outlines of all parts of the fairies. This
is particularly noticeable in the outline of the dress and hair of
the third fairy (counting from the left); compare this with the soft
outline of Alice’s hair, against a similar background.
2. The same fairy’s forearm is much brighter than Alice’s wrist, at the
point where it crosses between it and the camera. Assuming that both
were equally white, and lighted from the same source, the one further
from the camera would normally photograph a little the lighter.
3. Fairies two and four appear to be photographs of the same model, the
wings being exchanged for the pipe. Note the similarity of the attitude
of the legs, and of the shape of the tail of drapery hanging down
behind.
4. With the exception of one foot of each of these fairies, which
appears somewhat unnaturally amputated, _every part of the fairy
figures is in front of the sitter and background_. This applies to all
four photographs, and is of the utmost importance; superimposing the
fairies on the original photograph in the manner described must of
course produce this effect.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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