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Spirit Photography Explained

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Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jul 31, 1879

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 29.

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Spirit Photography Explained

"SPIRIT photography" is thus explained by a Rochester photographer: "I take a piece of glass and on it I paste the photographed heads of such 'spirits' as I wish to produce in hazy outlines about the head of the sitter. In the center of the glass I put nothing, but arrange the 'spirits' in a semi-circle. Then from this prepared plate I take a negative and afterwards a positive. When a sitter comes for photographs I take a negative just as I would any one's. When the printing is done I place the positive plate of the sitter under the positive plate of the 'spirits,' and allow the sun to print both. The 'spirits' being in a semi-circle the finished photograph appears as if the sitter was surrounded by heads in the air."