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The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult
The mesmerizing photographic history of occult phenomena, from levitations and apparitions to spectres, ghosts, and auras.
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 levitations, apparitions, 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.
Exhibition The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (September 26 – December 31, 2005)
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 levitations, apparitions, 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.
Exhibition The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (September 26 – December 31, 2005)
287 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
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January 5, 2017Unsure of what to rate this. Found at random in the library and spent part of the afternoon looking over the photographs and reading the prose. Thought of ordering it for coffee table. Made wise choice and passed. Thought of drafting a short story about a man who sleeps in cardboard dumpsters till he finds God. Read ancient Chinese poetry instead. Thought about the futile institution of marriage. Thursday 2017. My life as a dog.
May 2, 2019
The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult, published to accompany a 2005 exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum, is one of the most delightful photography books I've come across in a long while. It's the first comprehensive study of which I'm aware to devote itself to the use of photography as a tool in parapsychological research and to trace the uneasy relationship between photographic science and spiritualist belief.
The book is divided into three sections - Photographs of Spirits, Photographs of Fluids and Photographs of Mediums - and consists of a series of scholarly essays, each followed by reproductions that illustrate the content of the text. This system is not always strictly adhered to. The chapter on Arthur Conan Doyle, for example, is followed not only by the relevant photographs of the Cottingley fairies but also by the "skotographs" of Madge Donohue who is nowhere mentioned in the essay.
The book's Foreword, attributed to Philippe de Montebello and Jean-Luc Monterosso, sets forth the academic rigor with which the subject is to be viewed:
"While the controversies over the existence of occult forces cannot be discounted, the approach of this exhibition is resolutely historical. The curators present the photographs on their own terms,without authoritative comment on their veracity."
While such objectivity is in many ways admirable, it sometimes leads to unintended hilarity when curators discuss obviously faked photographs in the same pedantic manner that might be employed in evaluating genuine works of art. In such cases, a more skeptical tone would have served better. Then again, some of the photos belong to the Met Museum's Gilman collection and the contributors might very well have considered it indiscreet to have labeled them outright deceptions. What is remarkable is that spiritualist believers, when confronted by these same photographs, refused to believe the evidence of their eyes and insisted the phenomena recorded were real. Even when photographers such as Buguet admitted to trickery, his supporters refused to accept his word for it.
On a technical note, it's interesting that infrared photography is mentioned only in passing, and then solely as a means of taking pictures in total darkness. One would have thought that that film's ability to capture wavelengths of light invisible to the human eye would have made it a great resource for those attempting to capture the paranormal.
None of the photographers whose works are displayed in this volume were masters of their craft. Far from it. But while there's nothing shown here that remotely approaches the artistry of Man Ray, taken as a whole, the entire book can be seen as an anthology of surrealist photography that rivals anything deliberately created by that movement in its self-conscious search for dreamlike imagery. As such, many of these photographs possess and unintended beauty. In the Fluids section, some of the representations are reminiscent of abstract art, a genre they prefigured by several decades. Others have the charm of antique postcards from a Victorian sanitarium. And in the end, this unintended artistry may represent the real value of the publication. Thomas Mann, as quoted on page 177, derisively described the photographs taken of the medium Eva C. as "grotesque, fantastic and silly." It is exactly that which makes them worth viewing.
The book is divided into three sections - Photographs of Spirits, Photographs of Fluids and Photographs of Mediums - and consists of a series of scholarly essays, each followed by reproductions that illustrate the content of the text. This system is not always strictly adhered to. The chapter on Arthur Conan Doyle, for example, is followed not only by the relevant photographs of the Cottingley fairies but also by the "skotographs" of Madge Donohue who is nowhere mentioned in the essay.
The book's Foreword, attributed to Philippe de Montebello and Jean-Luc Monterosso, sets forth the academic rigor with which the subject is to be viewed:
"While the controversies over the existence of occult forces cannot be discounted, the approach of this exhibition is resolutely historical. The curators present the photographs on their own terms,without authoritative comment on their veracity."
While such objectivity is in many ways admirable, it sometimes leads to unintended hilarity when curators discuss obviously faked photographs in the same pedantic manner that might be employed in evaluating genuine works of art. In such cases, a more skeptical tone would have served better. Then again, some of the photos belong to the Met Museum's Gilman collection and the contributors might very well have considered it indiscreet to have labeled them outright deceptions. What is remarkable is that spiritualist believers, when confronted by these same photographs, refused to believe the evidence of their eyes and insisted the phenomena recorded were real. Even when photographers such as Buguet admitted to trickery, his supporters refused to accept his word for it.
On a technical note, it's interesting that infrared photography is mentioned only in passing, and then solely as a means of taking pictures in total darkness. One would have thought that that film's ability to capture wavelengths of light invisible to the human eye would have made it a great resource for those attempting to capture the paranormal.
None of the photographers whose works are displayed in this volume were masters of their craft. Far from it. But while there's nothing shown here that remotely approaches the artistry of Man Ray, taken as a whole, the entire book can be seen as an anthology of surrealist photography that rivals anything deliberately created by that movement in its self-conscious search for dreamlike imagery. As such, many of these photographs possess and unintended beauty. In the Fluids section, some of the representations are reminiscent of abstract art, a genre they prefigured by several decades. Others have the charm of antique postcards from a Victorian sanitarium. And in the end, this unintended artistry may represent the real value of the publication. Thomas Mann, as quoted on page 177, derisively described the photographs taken of the medium Eva C. as "grotesque, fantastic and silly." It is exactly that which makes them worth viewing.
May 30, 2017
Produced in conjunction with the 2005 exhibition of the same name at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Perfect Medium makes one thing perfectly clear from the start: the editors take absolutely no position as to the veracity of the phenomena depicted in the photos herein. None. Nada. Nope, be the spirits ever-so-obviously double exposures, be the ectoplasm expelled by the medium ever-so-obviously cheesecloth, be the science supporting the images be ever-so-obviously-pseudo, the editors here want you to know - really, really want you to know - that they've got no opinions as to whether or not any of this shit is real. Looking over the descriptions of the organizations from whose archives (the Society for Psychical Research, the College of Psychic Studies) these photographs were drawn, one can't help but suspect that carefully cultured neutrality has more to do with necessary curatorial discretion than open-mindedness.
Unfortunately, the side-effect of this lack of position is to suck the life out of most of the thirteen contextual essays scattered throughout the book's three sections, which feature photography of spirits, photography of fluids (which has nothing to do with fluid and everything to do with thoughts influencing film), and photography of mediums manifesting things that most definitely are not regurgitated bits of cheesecloth. Really. They're not. The necessity of carefully walking the line between belief and nonbelief - spoiler alert, I'm a fan of the latter - means that the various authors spend more time justifying than contextualizing, which is a pity. I'm far more interested in what drove people's need to see such phenomena, and their perception of photography as a "science" that could help them capture them, than I am in why a 19th century scientist believed something I could have faked in a darkroom after half a semester of Photography 101 was legit, and there's little to none of that here.
The book itself is gorgeous, the quality of the image reproductions impeccable, and the stories in it - no matter how drily told - are full of fascinating figures such as Civil War spirit photographer William Howard Mumler and the cheeky (and surprisingly hot) French faker Edouard Isidore Buguet. Houdini and Doyle even make cameos here. There's no arguing it's educational, and that the images are occasionally moving (or inadvertently funny) because of what they say about human nature, but the text at least is a ghost of what it could have been had the editors come down on one side or the other, or even decided to offer essays that alternated in their points of view. Despite its many high points, that lack leaves this Medium distinctly imperfect.
Unfortunately, the side-effect of this lack of position is to suck the life out of most of the thirteen contextual essays scattered throughout the book's three sections, which feature photography of spirits, photography of fluids (which has nothing to do with fluid and everything to do with thoughts influencing film), and photography of mediums manifesting things that most definitely are not regurgitated bits of cheesecloth. Really. They're not. The necessity of carefully walking the line between belief and nonbelief - spoiler alert, I'm a fan of the latter - means that the various authors spend more time justifying than contextualizing, which is a pity. I'm far more interested in what drove people's need to see such phenomena, and their perception of photography as a "science" that could help them capture them, than I am in why a 19th century scientist believed something I could have faked in a darkroom after half a semester of Photography 101 was legit, and there's little to none of that here.
The book itself is gorgeous, the quality of the image reproductions impeccable, and the stories in it - no matter how drily told - are full of fascinating figures such as Civil War spirit photographer William Howard Mumler and the cheeky (and surprisingly hot) French faker Edouard Isidore Buguet. Houdini and Doyle even make cameos here. There's no arguing it's educational, and that the images are occasionally moving (or inadvertently funny) because of what they say about human nature, but the text at least is a ghost of what it could have been had the editors come down on one side or the other, or even decided to offer essays that alternated in their points of view. Despite its many high points, that lack leaves this Medium distinctly imperfect.
March 11, 2019
Occult photographs backed with art history essays. If this appeals to you, you will enjoy this book.
June 22, 2015
A beautiful book full of intriguing images. As evidence of the objective reality of mediumistic phenomena, the remarkable collection of photographs in this book is a mixed bag. Many of the photos are, being kind, unconvincing to a modern eye, though they provide an insight into the capacity for belief in another age -- when the lines between science and claptrap were not quite drawn. Broken into roughly four sections -- formal photographs and cabinet cards of the departed made by professional spirit photographic mediums, images of mesmeric fluids, thought photographs like the products of the enigmatic Ted Serios, and photos allegedly taken during seances, this is a fantastic assemblage of pictures, some of them beautiful and artistic, others more interesting as windows into a rarely glimpsed past, and a few that are stunningly grotesque. Accompanied by well written essays on the subjects and accounts of how the photos came to be, the book is a worthy record of what must have been a world-class exhibition and it belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in the exploration of the supernatural, whether from a believer's perspective or a historical one.
June 3, 2025
UPDATE: found a $15 copy on eBay. Let the photo conjurings begin
It's a sad day today returning this to the library. My copy is on interloan and I've maxed out my renewals. Copies of this book are hundreds of dollars so it's goodbye for now. I've been reading a lot about this era of photography and spirit photography and this has been such a good visual source and reference alongside other texts. The photo reproductions are stunning although I didn't read the essays. Maybe next time. I mostly spent hours poring over the photos for their formal qualities as well as the sort of accidental artfulness of them. Over a hundred years ago spiritual photography was viewed as a science (and photography in general) and the images in this book weren't intended to be beautiful aesthetic objects. The nice thing about photography is that time tends to do just that. Most of these photographs are from spiritualist archives and are likely still treated as record but as a photobook it's a real trip full of suprising imagery and I wonder if all this time spent going down the rabbit hole will eventually reflect in my own work. I really hope so.
It's a sad day today returning this to the library. My copy is on interloan and I've maxed out my renewals. Copies of this book are hundreds of dollars so it's goodbye for now. I've been reading a lot about this era of photography and spirit photography and this has been such a good visual source and reference alongside other texts. The photo reproductions are stunning although I didn't read the essays. Maybe next time. I mostly spent hours poring over the photos for their formal qualities as well as the sort of accidental artfulness of them. Over a hundred years ago spiritual photography was viewed as a science (and photography in general) and the images in this book weren't intended to be beautiful aesthetic objects. The nice thing about photography is that time tends to do just that. Most of these photographs are from spiritualist archives and are likely still treated as record but as a photobook it's a real trip full of suprising imagery and I wonder if all this time spent going down the rabbit hole will eventually reflect in my own work. I really hope so.
September 6, 2007
This is the exhibit catalogue to the special exhibit entitled:” The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult" which ran at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York back in 2005. This volume contains Hundreds of lavish photos of all sorts of bizarre paranormal activity form the late 19th and early 20th century. A really special book. This volume has a little bit of everything; Ghosts, spirit séances, levitation, auras, ectoplasm you name it is more than likely in here, all absolutely beautifully reproduced with insightful commentary. Well worth the admission price.
February 16, 2008
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.
October 3, 2007
i loved this show!! and i saw p.giamatti there!
January 17, 2008
Weird....... but good.
February 28, 2010
Amazing!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews