Where the Paranoid Meets the Paranormal: Speculations on Spirit Photography

Abstract

One of the most fascinating genres in the history of nineteenth-century photography is the suspect practice of spirit photography. It was “discovered” by a Boston engraver turned photographer named William H. Mumler in March 1861, when he took a photograph of himself alone in his studio only to find that a second figure (or spirit extra), described by some accounts as the ghost image of his dead cousin, appeared next to him on the developed plate. With its origins set against the background of life (and death) during the Civil War, spirit photography would help many mourners cope with the tragic losses around them.