THE SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPH

The Spirit photograph was the invention of William H. Mumler, this chap was born in 1832, worked in New York and Boston in 1861 he was a jewelry engraver and worked in photography as a part time. On one occasion he had a self-portrait developed and noticed that ghost figure of a lady was captured behind him in the image. Mumler immediately realized that it was probably the result of an earlier image taken with using the same plate, but after several people told him that the ghost image looked alike to his dead relative, the image brought upon the attention of many spiritualists who stated the image to be the first photograph to be taken of a ghost.

Mumler immediately grabbed the opportunity and started a business out of this spirit photograph; since it was just past the time of the Civil War he had a large clientele which all of them lost a relative in the War and wished to produce a photograph that brought back the memories of their lost one. This business rendered to Mumler a huge fortune.

The formula was simple; Double the Exposure = Double the Money.

P.T. Barnum by  Abraham Bogardus 

However Mumler was also in the center of negative criticism from other photographers, they were concerned that his spirit photograph was nothing but a gimmick. This would have had a bad impact on the general view in the profession of photography.

After Mumler moved to New York in 1869, he was accused of fraud by the police and a trial was held. The prosecution hired photographer Abraham Bogardus to produce an image similar to the spirit photo by means of a double exposure just as the technique of Mumler. Bogardus produced an image of the famous showman P.T. Barnum with a ghost image Abraham Lincoln behind his back. Mumler was finally acquitted with no charges.

Mrs Lincoln by William H. Mumler

Mumler decided to move back to Boston right after the trial in 1871, where here he made the most interesting and popular spirit photograph. This happened as the widow of Abraham Lincoln went to his studio to have her spirit photograph taken. The image went viral and it was the last known image taken of Mrs. Lincoln. In 1875 Mumler had his autobiography published and by 1879 had stopped taking the spirit photographs, he died in 1884.

The Hoax Museum Blog, 2011. Mumler’s Spirit Photos. [online]

Available at: <http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/photo_database/image/mumlers_spirit_photos > [Accessed 25 December 2012].