Overview

In the 1860s, William Mumler photographed ghosts—or so he claimed. Faint images of the dearly departed lurked in the background with the living, like his well-known photo of the recently assassinated Abraham Lincoln comforting Mary Todd. The practice came to be known as spirit photography, and some believed Mumler was channeling the dead. Skeptics, however, called it a fraudulent trick on the gullible, taking advantage of the grieving at a time of suffering and loss. Mumler's insistence that his work brought back the dead led to a sensational trial in 1869 that was the talk of the nation.

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9780816651573

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<p> Kaplan's book is particularly relevant because he asserts that spirit photographs bring to the surface our deep connection with photography itself. Thus, as digital photography continues to call into question faith in the truth of photographic evidence, and religious fundamentalism continues to play a central role in contemporary politics, spirit photographs have just as much to tell us about our contemporary experience as they do about one strange case from the nineteenth century. -- Photography and Culture

Kaplan's book is particularly relevant because he asserts that spirit photographs bring to the surface our deep connection with photography itself. Thus, as digital photography continues to call into question faith in the truth of photographic evidence, and religious fundamentalism continues to play a central role in contemporary politics, spirit photographs have just as much to tell us about our contemporary experience as they do about one strange case from the nineteenth century. --Photography and Culture No other book brings together in one source the testimonies of William Mumler and his critics, critical and historical analysis, and selections from the rich collections of extant Mumler photographs. An intriguing and valuable work. --Jennifer Tucker, author of Nature Exposed: Photography as Eyewitness in Victorian Science This book is an important contribution to the growing literature on spirit photography and gives the reader an intimate insight into the world of the Spiritualists and the occult power of the photograph in the 1860s. An extremely valuable resource. --Martyn Jolly, author of Faces of the Living Dead: The Belief in Spirit Photography Kaplan s book is particularly relevant because he asserts that spirit photographs bring to the surface our deep connection with photography itself. Thus, as digital photography continues to call into question faith in the truth of photographic evidence, and religious fundamentalism continues to play a central role in contemporary politics, spirit photographs have just as much to tell us about our contemporary experience as they do about one strange case from the nineteenth century. Photography and Culture Kaplan's book is particularly relevant because he asserts that spirit photographs bring to the surface our deep connection with photography itself. Thus, as digital photography continues to call into question faith in the truth of photographic evidence, and religious fundamentalism continues to play a central role in contemporary politics, spirit photographs have just as much to tell us about our contemporary experience as they do about one strange case from the nineteenth century. -- Photography and Culture

Kaplan s book is particularly relevant because he asserts that spirit photographs bring to the surface our deep connection with photography itself. Thus, as digital photography continues to call into question faith in the truth of photographic evidence, and religious fundamentalism continues to play a central role in contemporary politics, spirit photographs have just as much to tell us about our contemporary experience as they do about one strange case from the nineteenth century. Photography and Culture

"""This book is an important contribution to the growing literature on spirit photography and gives the reader an intimate insight into the world of the Spiritualists and the occult power of the photograph in the 1860s. An extremely valuable resource."" —Martyn Jolly, author of Faces of the Living Dead: The Belief in Spirit Photography ""No other book brings together in one source the testimonies of William Mumler and his critics, critical and historical analysis, and selections from the rich collections of extant Mumler photographs. An intriguing and valuable work."" —Jennifer Tucker, author of Nature Exposed: Photography as Eyewitness in Victorian Science ""Kaplan’s book is particularly relevant because he asserts that spirit photographs bring to the surface our deep connection with photography itself. Thus, as digital photography continues to call into question faith in the truth of photographic evidence, and religious fundamentalism continues to play a central role in contemporary politics, spirit photographs have just as much to tell us about our contemporary experience as they do about one “strange case” from the nineteenth century."" —Photography and Culture"

This book is an important contribution to the growing literature on spirit photography and gives the reader an intimate insight into the world of the Spiritualists and the occult power of the photograph in the 1860s. An extremely valuable resource. --Martyn Jolly, author of Faces of the Living Dead: The Belief in Spirit Photography

Author Information

Louis Kaplan is director of the Institute of Communication and Culture at the University of Toronto at Mississauga and associate professor of history and theory of photography and new media in the Graduate Department of Art at the University of Toronto. He is the author of American Exposures: Photography and Community in the Twentieth Century (Minnesota, 2005).

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