In the late 19th century, photography was proof that something had happened. At the height of the spiritualist movement, some photographers turned that trust into a business: they claimed they could photograph the dead alongside the living, and many grieving families paid for such an image. Most were frauds — some of those «spirits» turned out to be living people — but they all used the same tools: exposure time, double exposure and light. Exactly what film photography works with, what people today call analogue.

On Saturday October 31st, for Castanyada night, we’re dedicating a three-hour flash workshop to it. An excuse to play with a camera in the dark and, along the way, understand where a good part of photography’s tricks come from.

A fraud that left a technical lesson

The most famous spirit photographer was William H. Mumler, a Boston jeweller who in 1861 published a portrait of his dead cousin’s «ghost» and went on to photograph figures such as Mary Todd Lincoln. In 1869 he was tried for fraud in New York: some of the spirits he had photographed were living people who testified at the trial. He was acquitted, but the technique was exposed.

His methods are ours. A first exposure of the deceased was made against a dark background, the plate was covered again, and the portrait of the living person was exposed on top. Or the «ghost» moved during a multi-second exposure, leaving its silhouette vaporous while the rest of the scene was sharp. Today, with a camera that has Bulb mode or multiple exposure, all of this can be done without any trickery.

Three hours to make apparitions

We start with the history and real examples, then move quickly to practice. At Nau Bostik we dim the lights, set up tripods, hand out lanterns, sheets and costumes, and start making figures appear. We’ll work on the ghost figure with long exposures, in-camera double exposure and light painting with a torch.

Each participant takes home a roll of black-and-white film, which can be developed with us in a later session. Makeup and costume are each person’s responsibility: the more elaborate, the better.

We do it for what it is: a game with light and a history-of-photography lesson. Not a test of anything. If someone asks how you did it, explaining it is the best part.

Registration

Saturday October 31st, 7–10 pm, at Nau Bostik. 8 places and 60 €, with one roll of black-and-white film included. If you have a camera with Bulb mode or multiple exposure, bring it; if not, we’ll lend you one.

To book your place, contact us and find all the details on the workshop page. If you want to develop the roll afterwards, you can do so at the B&W Film Development workshop and, if you want to go all the way to a print, with darkroom printing.

References

Clément Chéroux et al., The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005).
Peter Manseau, The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography and the Man Who Captured Lincoln’s Ghost (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017).
Spirit photography and William H. Mumler on Wikipedia.