The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult
by Clément Chéroux
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Description
In the early days of photography, many believed and hoped that the camera would prove more efficient than the human eye in capturing the unseen. Spiritualists and animists of the nineteenth century seized on the new technology as a method of substantiating the existence of supernatural beings and happenings. This fascinating book assembles more than 250 photographic images from the Victorian era to the 1960s, each purporting to document an occult phenomenon: levitations, apparitions, show more transfigurations, ectoplasms, spectres, ghosts, and auras. Drawn from the archives of European and American occult societies and private and public collections, the photographs in many cases have never before been published. The Perfect Medium studies these rare and remarkable photographs through cultural, historical, and artistic lenses. More than mere curiosities, the images on film are important records of the cultural forces and technical methods that brought about their production. They document in unexpected ways a period when developing photographic technology merged with a popular obsession with the occult to create a new genre of haunting experimental photographs. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This is the exhibition book for the excellent Met exhibit of the same name. Photographs, mostly from the Victorian era through the 1930s, of mediums and supposedly supernatural phenomena are accompanied by excellent essays about the major players in the field of spirit photography. It's an amazing book, particularly if you're interested in the Spiritualists and in the power of photography. Definitely well worth the hefty price tag -- this is one I'm going to keep coming back to over and over again.
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Gothicissisme II : Esprit es-tu là?
13 works; 2 members
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48+ Works 601 Members
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Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Art & Design, Religion & Spirituality, General Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 133.92 — Philosophy and Psychology Parapsychology & occultism Specific topics in parapsychology and occultism Spiritualism Ghosts
- LCC
- BF1381 .P47 — Philosophy, Psychology and Religion Psychology Parapsychology Spiritualism
- BISAC
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- 140
- Popularity
- 232,938
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.31)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 1
