SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
With what is perhaps pardonable pride we point to the genius of
American enterprise in scientific advancement but it is with decided
chagrin that I repeat that, as modern Spiritualism was born in America,
so also have been most of the phenomena that under the mask of
Spiritualism have unbalanced so many fine intellects the world over.
Spirit photography, the most prominent of mediumistic phenomena, had
its beginning in Boston, “Hub” of intellectual development, its coming
being announced by Dr. Gardner, a devout Spiritualist, who discovered a
photographer that “in taking a photograph of himself, obtained on the
same plate a likeness of a cousin dead some twelve years before.”
This was in 1862, but a little more than a decade after the original
demonstration of so-called Spirit power at Hydesville. Fortunately for
the success of the new art the photographer selected by the inhabitants
of “Summerland”[72] to use for the demonstration of the new phenomena
was a medium and of all the hosts in heaven the spirit chosen to be
photographed was (singular coincidence) a cousin of his who had passed
the border some years previous.
No sooner had the discovery been announced than spiritual enthusiasts
in large numbers began flocking to the studio of the medium, Mr.
William H. Mumler, and this kept up until evil spirits (?) began to
create an atmosphere of doubt and skepticism, whereupon he abruptly
took himself and his new enterprise to New York City, a precipitous
plunge presumably prompted by his Spiritual guides.
The change proved to be of great financial benefit to Mumler until the
ire of the evil Spirits was once more aroused and he was arrested on a
charge of fraudulent transactions. A most interesting and sensational
trial followed with many noted people appearing as witnesses, among
them being that prince of showmen, Phineas Taylor Barnum, who testified
for the prosecution, and Judge John W. Edmonds, of the Supreme Court
Bench, for the defence.[73]
Mr. Barnum testified to having spent much time and study in the
detection of humbugs and had recently written a book called “The
Humbugs of the World.” He knew Mumler only through reputation but had
had some correspondence with him in regard to his pictures, wishing to
learn his process and expose it in his book, and some pictures which
Mumler sent him Barnum paid ten dollars apiece for and put in his
museum labelled as “Spiritualistic Humbugs.”
Barnum’s testimony was attacked by Mumler’s lawyer who characterized it
as being a “very pretty illustration of humbug” and added that even if
it were true Barnum violated the “great precept relating to honor among
thieves,” but I want to go on record as believing that Mr. Barnum told
the truth in the Mumler case.
Judge Edmonds declared on the stand that he had seen Spirits although
many Spiritualists could not and recalled an instance when he was on
the bench trying a case in which the payment of an accident insurance
policy was the issue. He told the court that the whole aspect of the
case was changed after he saw the spirit of the suicide and several
questions which this Spirit had suggested were put to the witness, the
decision being reversed on the testimony thus brought out. He also
testified to his belief that Mumler’s pictures were genuine photographs
of Spirits.
During the trial many methods[74] of producing Spirit “extras” were
shown in court by expert photographers and the possibilities of the
effect being produced by natural means proven. The investigators,
however, did not have their case in good shape. There were strong
grounds for suspicion but they were unable to present positive proof
and though the court was morally convinced that fraudulent methods had
been practiced sufficient evidence to convict Mumler was lacking.
Although acquitted, it is significant that Mumler refused an offer
of five hundred dollars to reproduce his pictures in another studio
under test conditions and while free to resume his business so far
as the court was concerned, with a full harvest of dupes waiting to
be fleeced, he was nevertheless soon lost to view and seems to have
vanished entirely after the publication of his book in 1875.
Spiritualistic mediumship is not immune to the flattery of imitation
for even a casual examination of Spiritualistic history and development
shows that just as soon as a medium forms a new alliance with the
psychic power dispenser and produces phenomena unknown before, other
mediums immediately begin to produce it also and the new manifestation
soon becomes epidemic. It was so with Spirit photography. No one had
thought of such a possibility before Mumler invented the mystery but
talented mediums everywhere when they heard of his pictures began to
produce them also. Stories of his success crossed the sea and Europe
discovered equal talent there.
In the summer of 1874 a Parisian photographer by the name of Buguet
went over to London and attracted considerable attention with his
Spirit pictures. They were of much higher artistic quality than any
preceding ones and Podmore in his “Modern Spiritualism” tells us that:
“The Spirit faces were in most cases clearly defined, and were, in
fact, frequently recognized by the sitters, and even W. H. Harrison
failed to detect any trickery in the operation.”
After a short stay during which his demonstrations completely
satisfied such men as Rev. Stainton Moses, who was liberal with his
endorsements, Buguet returned to Paris, where the next year he was
placed under arrest “charged with the fraudulent manufacture of
Spirit photographs.” Unlike Mumler, his conscience did not prove
court-proof, or perhaps the evidence against him was such that a
friendly Spirit advised confession, at any rate he told the court that
all of his Spirit photographs were the result of double exposure. On
the strength of this confession Buguet was convicted and sentenced to
one year of imprisonment and a fine of five hundred francs. A like
sentence was given to M. Leymaire, Editor of the _Revue Spirits_, who
admitted suggesting to Buguet that he should enter the field of Spirit
photography.
The police seized all the paraphernalia in the studio of Buguet and
took it to court. Amongst it was a lay figure and a large stock of
heads. These with dolls and assistants at the studio took turns as
inspirations for Spirit extras. But the real interest of the trial
was not these revelations, Podmore tells us, for after all Buguet did
little to improve on the methods inaugurated by his predecessors. It
is the effect produced on his dupes by Buguet’s confession, and the
display of his trick apparatus, which is really worthy of attention.
Witness after witness--journalist, photographic expert, musician,
merchant, man of letters, optician, ex-professor of history, Colonel
of Artillery, etc., etc.--came forward to testify on behalf of the
accused. Some had watched the process throughout, and were satisfied
that trickery had not been practiced. Many had obtained on the plate
unmistakable portraits of those dear to them, and found it impossible
to relinquish their faith. One after another these witnesses were
confronted with Buguet, and heard him explain how the trick had been
done. One after another they left the witness-box, protesting that they
could not doubt the evidence of their own eyes. Here, chosen almost at
random from many similar accounts, is the testimony of M. Dessenon,
picture-seller, aged fifty-five. After describing how he had obtained
in the first instance various figures which he could not recognize, he
continues:--
“‘The portrait of my wife, which I had especially asked for, is so like
her that when I showed it to one of my relatives he exclaimed, “It’s my
cousin!”’
“_The Court_: ‘Was that chance, Buguet?’
“_Buguet_: ‘Yes, pure chance. I had no photograph of Mme. Dessenon.’
“_The Witness_: ‘My children, like myself, thought the likeness
perfect. When I showed them the picture they cried, “It’s mama.” A very
fortunate chance!... I am convinced it was my wife.’
“_The Court_: ‘You see this doll and all the rest of the things?’
“_The Witness_: ‘There is nothing there in the least like the
photograph which I obtained.’”
Incidentally there were two or three curious bits of evidence on the
value of recognition as a test. _A police officer stated that Buguet
showed him a portrait which had done duty as the sister of one sitter,
the mother of a second, and the friend of a third._ Again, it came out
in the evidence that a very clearly defined head (reproduced as an
illustration to Stainton Moses’ articles in _Human Nature_) which had
been claimed by M. Leymaire as the portrait of his almost life long
friend, M. Poiret, was recognized by another witness as an excellent
likeness of his father-in-law, _still living_ at Breux, and much
annoyed at his premature introduction to the Spirit world.
From Mumler’s first pictures to the present day, Spirit photography
has played a large part in the field of Spiritualistic devotion, and
innumerable mediums have discovered that they possessed the same
phenomenal power for producing the coveted likeness in the form of
“extras” on the sensitized plate. The art has now advanced to such a
stage that it is no longer necessary for one to sit but all that is
needed is a relic of the departed one, something which either belonged
or was of especial interest, to the person. This relic is photographed
and when the plate is developed there appears beside it as an “extra”
the face of the departed; that is, I should say, if your imagination
is strong enough to see a resemblance to the person supposed to be
represented.
Nor is a camera necessary in these days, according to Spiritualists.
In fact, I am told that it is not necessary to even open a box of
plates, but that they can be “magnetized” just as they come from the
maker _provided_ the box is in the possession of the medium a few
days in advance of the sitting. This single condition fulfilled and
the demonstration will follow if the sitters, including the nearest
relative, pile their hands on top of the medium’s. Then to create a
solemn atmosphere the sitters are usually asked to join in some form
of religious devotion such as singing “Nearer, My God, To Thee,” or a
fervent prayer.
This is the type of performance conducted by what is known as the
“Crewe Photographers” and supported and defended by the present day
leaders in Spiritualism. This Crewe combination of photographers is
under the management of professional Spiritualists and is an organized
effort to promulgate this particular phase of Spiritualistic phenomena.
The group consists of Mr. William Hope and Mrs. Buxton, Crewe; Mrs.
Deane of London; and Mr. Vearncombe of Bridgewater.
My friend, Harry Price, attended a sitting given by Hope and tells of
the religious exercises as follows:
“Mrs. Buxton sang several verses of ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee,’ after
which Mr. Hope made a long impromptu prayer in which he thanked God
for all our many mercies, and hoped He would continue His blessings at
the present moment. He also craved blessings on our fellow creatures
and friends on the other side and asked assistance in the attempt to
link up with them, etc. Then Mrs. Buxton sang another hymn, after which
Mr. Hope picked up the package of dry plates, put them between the
hands of Mrs. Buxton, placed her hands on his, and others in the party
piled their hands on top. Then we had another impromptu prayer by Mrs.
Buxton. Then the Lord’s Prayer was sung, and a short hymn concluded the
service.”
Can one imagine a sacrilege more revolting than singing hymns, saying
prayers, and calling on the Almighty for help in such fraudulent work?
The combination evaded detection and were doing a most successful
business when in the spring of 1921, Mr. Edward Bush, of the Society of
Psychical Research, laid a snare into which Hope walked with his eyes
wide open. Mr. Bush wrote for an appointment under the assumed name of
“D. Wood,” enclosing a photograph of a son-in-law who was alive. On the
back of the photograph was written:
“Tell Dad, if anything happens to me, I will try and let him have a
Spirit Photo. Tell him to shout up to let me know where he goes to.
“Jack Ackroyd.”
Hope arranged a time for a sitting but returned the photo, saying he
regretted that it had been sent as it subjected him to suspicion. When
the time for the sitting arrived Hope went under control and Mr. Bush
manipulated the plates as he directed but no “extras” appeared. On the
next day, however, when the plate was developed after another sitting,
there was an “extra” which proved to be a likeness of the son-in-law.
Mr. Bush published the details of this exposure in a pamphlet and the
London _Truth_ said editorially:
“But not only have William Hope and his sister medium, Mrs. Buxton,
cause to kick themselves at Mr. Bush’s exposure, Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle,[75] Lady Glenconner, the Rev. Walter Wynn, and many other
leading lights of the movement have brought these products of faith and
hope forward as conclusive proof of the continuation of existence and
the possibility of communication with the next world.”
Later in the same year, Mr. C. R. Mitchell, a former leader of the
Hackney Spiritualistic Society and well known in mediumistic circles in
London, was selected to “undertake certain tests of a scientific nature
for the purpose of ascertaining the value of these Spirit phenomena.”
Mr. Mitchell was a photographer and wished to use his own plates in the
experiment but Mrs. Deane, who was to conduct it, refused to let him
unless he _first left them with her for a few days to be magnetized_.
He objected to this and it was finally agreed that he could use his own
plates provided he would magnetize them himself but the results were
unsatisfactory. He then purchased from Mrs. Deane a package of fresh
plates, which, it was claimed, had not been opened since it left the
manufacturer. The likeness of a soldier appeared on one of these which
Mr. Mitchell developed himself and he concluded that not only had the
plates been “magnetized” but that they had been exposed in a camera as
well.
The issue of _Truth_ for June 28th, 1922, gives an account of the
experience of an ex-Indian missionary, who, with three others, visited
the Crewe photographers and sat for Spirit pictures. Four exposures
were made and Spirit “extras” appeared on two of the plates but the
men could not remember whether the plates had at any time been beyond
their control so the missionary arranged for another sitting taking the
precaution to have his plates marked on the corner with a glazier’s
diamond. At this second sitting one Spirit extra was produced but
there was _no diamond mark_ on the plate, positive proof that an
exchange had been effected.
During 1922 the Occult Committee of the Magic Circle took up the
investigation of Spirit photography first giving its attention to Mr.
Vearncombe who produced Spirit extras in connection with some object
once in possession of the deceased. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle put this
committee in touch with the Honorary Secretary of the Society for
the Study of Supernormal Pictures, Mr. Barlow, and at the latter’s
suggestion sent him an unopened package of plates for Mr. Vearncombe.
Although Barlow objected, “for Vearncombe’s satisfaction, though not
essential,” the package was enclosed in a lead case. Also at Barlow’s
suggestion a fee accompanied the package. After a month of waiting the
committee received a photograph of the package and on the photograph
was a spirit message which read: “Barred your side.”
In order to remove the barrier a fresh package of plates was forwarded
to Vearncombe, this time in an ordinary wrapper. Some months later,
after the plates had been Spiritually treated by Vearncombe, they were
returned to the committee. When developed “psychic extras” were found
on two plates. There was evidence that the package had been tampered
with and the same spirit had been seen on other photographs.
The committee sent Vearncombe a package of plates under an assumed name
but received word from him that it was not necessary to send plates.
That small objects which had belonged to the deceased would do and
that if the proper fee were enclosed photographic prints showing the
“psychic extras” obtained would be supplied. As a full compliance with
this suggestion would have been useless as a test, a box of plates, a
small object supposed to have belonged to the deceased, and the fee
were sent.
Again Vearncombe protested that he did not treat unopened boxes
of plates owing to many failures but offered to expose plates on
the object which had been supplied. He was informed that such
exposure would be unsatisfactory whereupon rather than disappoint
his correspondent, he consented and forwarded the package with the
statement that he had treated the plates as desired and hoped for
success. On development a “psychic image” appeared on one of the plates
but the committee found that the wrappers of the package had been
unsealed and the plates disturbed in their arrangement.
In order to clinch the results of their trapping Vearncombe was
informed that the experiment had been a “success” but in order to
“avoid criticism” he was asked for an assurance that the package had
not been tampered with. It soon came in the form of a written statement
that the package had been treated by him and returned to the sender as
originally sealed when he received it.
The committee has arranged fourteen tests, twelve of which had been
violated, and as two or three violations would have been sufficient
evidence of fraud it did not consider more necessary but reported that
it had been established by the evidence that fraud-proof packages
produced no results whereas it found “Spirit extras” in packages which
had been tampered with and that “collectively the result is damning.”
The committee next directed its attention to Mrs. Deane who, because of
“complications from annoying sitters,” had given up private practice at
her residence and was working under engagement with the British College
of Psychic Science. The Principal of the College, Mr. McKenzie, had
vouched for her as being absolutely conscientious and straightforward
in her work and one fully qualified to produce “psychic extras without
resort to trickery.” Mr. Harry Price and Mr. Seymour negotiated for
a private sitting with her. She required that sealed plates should
be sent several days in advance for “magnetization.” Six plates were
exposed at the sitting and on most of them “extras” appeared, but
evidence was obtained that the package had been opened previous to the
sitting and the plates _treated_ but there had been no substitution of
plates.
An effort was made to get more convincing evidence and after
considerable difficulty a second sitting was arranged for. This time
the committee went to a manufacturer, whose plates had been mentioned
by the college people as being preferable, and had a special package
made up and sealed. In this package each plate was so marked that
substitution or manipulation were sure to be revealed. It was simply
fraud-proof.
At the sitting the regular prayer and hymn singing were conducted as
usual after which the plates were exposed and developed. It was found
that the package had been opened previously, the top plate removed
and another substituted for it and on this substituted plate, only,
there was a “Spirit extra.” At a third sitting a fresh box of secretly
marked plates were opened in the presence of Mrs. Deane. Four plates
were loaded into as many separate slides and Mrs. Deane carried them
into the adjoining studio. On a table in the studio was a hand-bag
and beside it a hymn book. The hand in which she held the four slides
momentarily disappeared inside the bag while at the same time she
picked up the hymn book with her other hand. With the hymn book she had
picked up a duplicate slide which, with a perfectly natural movement,
she added to the three in her other hand one of the four marked plates
having been dropped in the bag where it was found later by one of the
investigators who examined the bag while Mrs. Deane was absent for a
moment.
Following the customary religious service the four plates were exposed
and then developed. Three plates which had the identifying marks had no
Spirit extra, but the fourth plate which had no identification mark did
have a Spirit form.
As a result of this investigation the committee found that whenever
there was an opportunity packages were opened and treated, plates
substituted, and in the tests which followed “Spirit extras” were
secured, but when the conditions were absolutely fraud-proof there were
no “extras,” and so far as it was able to discover all the so-called
Spirit photography rested on the flimsy foundation of fraud.
In December 1921 I tried to visit Mr. Hope and have some Spirit
photographs made but I was informed that his engagements would keep
him busy for months and that I would have to wait my turn. I then got
in touch with a friend of mine by the name of DeVega[76] who lives in
Glasgow and asked him if he would not see Hope and arrange to sit for a
photograph. After considerable correspondence between DeVega and Hope
the latter agreed to make the photographs provided DeVega would go to
Crewe. DeVega assented to this, and an appointment was made and the
sitting took place. The following account of DeVega’s experience is
taken from a full report which he sent me.
“Dec. 16, 1921.--Arrived at No. 144 Market Street, the door was opened
by an elderly lady. I asked if Mr. Hope was in and presently he came
down. I told him that a well known member of the Spiritualist Society
and a man known to be a collector of Spirit photographs sent me and
that seemed to be sufficient for Mr. Hope.
“I had brought my own camera along and asked him whether the pictures
could be taken with it. However, he said he used his own camera but
would let me investigate it all I wanted to. He told me he could not
possibly photograph me that forenoon as there was another gentleman
coming but arranged for two o’clock.
“I watched Market Street, from a distance, all the forenoon but saw no
one go in. I arrived there promptly but it was 2:30 before Mr. Hope
arrived. A Mrs. Buxton joined us. She, Hope and myself sat around a
small table. They sang hymns, said a prayer and asked the table if all
was favorable.
“At his request I placed my packages of plates on the table. They
placed their hands above them and sang again. Hope suddenly gave a
quiver and said, ‘Now we will try.’ He showed me the dark room, which
is a small arrangement of about six feet high, three feet wide and five
feet long. There were two shelves and on these were dusters, cloths,
bottles of chemicals, a lamp, etc. The lamp is an old affair lit by a
candle. The room is so very small that when two people are in it there
is no room to move about.
“He next showed me the camera and asked me to examine it. I gave a
glance at it and told him I did not doubt his word, which seemed to
please him a great deal. I thought if it was a fake he would not allow
me to examine it as closely as he asked me to. It was an old make, one
fourth plate, studio camera and had no shutter, but worked with a cap
over a lens (the cap was missing). He next showed me the dark slide.
It was an old-fashioned, double wood end slide. I examined it very
closely but it was unprepared.
[Illustration:
SO-CALLED “SPIRIT EXTRA” ON PHOTOGRAPH OF HARRY PRICE MADE BY
WILLIAM HOPE OF THE CREWE CIRCLE
]
“The studio itself is a little glass hot-house arrangement built on to
the side of the house. A green curtain is hung at the one end at which
the sitter sits.
“We went again into the dark room to load the plates. He gave me his
slide and told me to leave two of my own dark slides down in front of
the light as he would try my camera too. I opened my plates and placed
two in his dark slide and closed it. It was placed on the under shelf
where I could see it faintly. He then asked me to open my own two
slides slightly and sign my name on them. (I signed J. B. Gilchrist.)
As I signed them he moved the lamp to let me see better. This threw the
one fourth plate in the shadow. After that he handed me the one fourth
plate slide to sign the two plates in the same way.
“_I am sure, although I did not actually see him, that the slide I
loaded, was changed for another one._ It was too dark to see under the
level of the shelf. I, for a moment, considered letting my pencil slip
and spoil the plate and load in another from my packet but I thought
it advisable to let things go on as I would then see just what his
usual procedure was. I wondered at the time _Why I could not have been
told to take the plates from the package, sign them and then place the
plates in the slide and place the slide in my pocket until they were to
be exposed. Why was it necessary to sign my own plates in my dark slide
at all? In fact, there was no necessity for me to take my slide in the
dark room._
“We went back into the studio, again I was asked to examine the camera.
However, I took up my position in front of the camera. Mrs. Buxton
stood at one side and Mr. Hope at the other. The dark focusing cloth
was low over the lens (the cap being missing) and the slide open.
Mrs. Buxton and Hope sang a hymn and each took an end of the cloth,
uncovering the lens. This was repeated with other plates as well.
“Now my camera was set up. I was asked to open the slide and show them
how the shutter worked. The exposure was made. He placed his hand in
front of the camera, covering the lens and asked me to open the slide
myself as he did not want to touch it. _Now why did he close the lens
in that way?_ It would have been simpler to have pushed down the open
front of the slide, closing it, but I believe that on his hand was a
spot of some radiant salt or some such substance that would cause a
bright spot to appear on the negative, such as appeared on that plate
when it was developed. Holding his hand in front of the lens while an
exposure was being made is such an unnatural action that I believe
that was the cause of what he called ‘a Spirit Light,’ when it was
developed. The next photograph I told him to press the release again to
close the shutter. He did so.
“We then adjourned into the dark room to develop the plates. The two,
one fourth plates were placed by me, side by side, in a dish and the
two three and a half by two and a half in another dish and developed.
By pouring the developer from one dish to another, one of the one
quarter plates flashed up dark. I remarked that one was coming up very
quickly and he replied that ‘when they come up like that it is a good
sign for it is very likely there is an “extra” on them.’ I said no more
but in my experience and knowledge of photography, such an occurrence
is impossible unless the plates have been previously exposed.
“_The two plates were taken from the same packet, loaded into the dark
slide at the same time, with the same dark room light and the same
distance from the light. They were then exposed on the same subject
immediately after each other; the same length of exposure being given
(I counted them mentally) with the same aperture of lens. The plates
were then placed side by side in the same dish of developer and I
contend that the image must come up at a uniform speed on both plates
and that it is impossible for one to flash up before the other and
darken all over unless it was previously exposed, especially when there
was no variation in the light when the exposure was made, it being
three P.M., December 16, clear sky, no sunshine._
“An ‘extra’ did appear on this (one fourth plate). It is a clean shaven
face above mine and drapery hanging from it. On my own three and a half
by two and a half a light splotch is over my face. Mrs. Buxton informed
me that it was a ‘Spirit light’ but Mr. Hope believed he saw the faint
features of a face in it.”
While in Denver, Colorado, in May, 1923, I called one morning on Mr.
Alexander Martin, whom Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had told me was a noted
psychic photographer and a very wonderful man in his particular line.
Doyle himself had called on Martin the day before but as Martin did not
feel in the mood there had been no demonstration. In this Sir Arthur
was no more unfortunate than Hyslop, the eminent Psychic investigator,
who, according to Sir Arthur, had made a special journey from England
to Denver in order to have a seance with Martin but had not been
successful.
Martin lived about fifteen minutes out of town by taxi. I took with
me my chief assistant, James Collins, so I would have a witness if
anything of a psychic nature occurred. Collins had my camera as I
wanted at least to get a picture of Martin. We found him standing in
the doorway of a rear building and after I introduced myself he seemed
cordial. I showed him some Spirit photographs which I had with me and
after a few minutes talk I asked him if he was willing that Collins
should take a snap-shot at us. He thought I was asking for a sitting
and replied that he did not feel good and besides had been engaged to
take the pictures of the children in two schools. I kept on talking
in my most entertaining manner and before long he invited us into the
house saying he would photograph both of us. Meanwhile Collins had
secured five snap-shots at close range without Martin knowing it.
When we went into the house I walked right into the dark room but
Martin called me saying:
“Now don’t you go in there, just wait a minute.”
While we waited outside Martin spent about eight minutes in the dark
room. Then he came out and we went into his studio, a simple room with
a black background. He had me sit down and placed Collins behind me on
my right. As a test I told Collins to step over to the other side as
it might look better. Then when he had done so I turned to Martin and
asked:
“Is that all right or is it better to have him take the original
position?”
“I think it would be nicer if he stood where he was in the first
place,” Martin replied.
This led me to think he was keeping that side of the plate clean for
something to appear. There was considerable light in the room and
Martin pulled a dark screen on our right explaining that he did not
need much light for the psychic stuff, then putting a shade on his eyes
he turned to us and said:
“Now keep quiet and I will try and do something.”
When he uncovered the lens I counted the time of the exposure which was
about fifteen seconds. As he covered it again he said to us:
[Illustration: HOUDINI AND ALEXANDER MARTIN]
“That is all I can do to-day. Now I must hurry away.”
We thanked him and as we were going out I asked him if he had any
photographs we could see. He went into an adjoining room but closed the
door so we had no opportunity to look in. When he came out he had four
photographs which he allowed me to keep but he would not write on them
who they were of.
The next day I went to see him again and he gave me another seance.
This time he said he would have to cut a plate and he gave me a book
to read while I waited. In looking for a piece of paper on which to
write my address he picked up a lot of newspapers and I noticed some
scientific publications systematically inserted between the leaves
which led me to think he was trying to hide his knowledge and wished to
appear as a simple minded old man who knew but little about photography.
I have not the slightest doubt that Mr. Martin’s Spirit photographs
were simply double exposures. I think his method was to cut out various
pictures, place them on a background and make an exposure. His plates
were then ready for his next sitter, which in the above instance was
myself. Being an expert photographer he might have used the original
wet plate method of making an exposure, developing it, washing the
emulsion off the plate and refinishing it with a new emulsion but I am
convinced that the two Spirit photos which he made of me were simply
double exposures.
The technique of photography does not trouble the psychic operator.
He has no regard for the laws of light or chemistry. The fact that in
all of his pictures the Spirits appear to be perfectly conscious of
posing does not disconcert him, nor is he disturbed because they always
appear as they were in life. How much more interesting it would be and
how much more such photographs would add to our knowledge and aid the
advancement of science if once in a while the Spirits would permit
themselves to be snapped while engaged in some Spiritual occupation.
From a logical, rational point of view, Spirit photography is a most
barefaced imposition and stands as evidence of the credulity of those
who are in sympathy with the superstitions of occultism. It is also
evidence of how unscrupulous mediums become and how calloused their
consciences.
In this country there is no such organized group of Spirit
photographers as the Crewe photographers in England. Since Mumler’s
narrow escape from deserved punishment and his disappearance there have
been few who had the courage to operate as boldly as he did. The most
conspicuous one practicing at the present time is Dr. (?) W. M. Keeler,
who according to Spiritualistic publications has a nerve and conscience
equal to any psychic undertaking.
With Spirit photography as with all other so-called psychic marvels,
there never has been, nor is now, any proof of genuineness beyond
the claim made by the medium. In each and every case it is a simple
question of veracity, and when the most sincere believers in
Spiritualism unhesitatingly admit, as they do, that all mediums at
times resort to fraud and lying, what dependence can possibly be placed
in any statement they make?
There can be no better evidence of rottenness in the whole structure
than the fact that for upwards of forty years there have been standing
offers of money in amounts ranging from five hundred to five thousand
dollars for a single case of so-called phenomena which could be proven
actually psychic. Knowing the character of mediums as I do I claim if
proof were possible there is not a single medium, including Spirit
photographers, who would not have jumped at the chance to win such
a prize. If there are any who are operating honestly let them come
forward with proof and take the reward.
[Illustration: PHOTOGRAPH OF HOUDINI MADE BY ALEXANDER MARTIN, AT
DENVER, COLORADO, ON MAY 10, 1923, SHOWING SO-CALLED “SPIRIT EXTRAS”]