William Mumler claimed he could photograph ghosts ... and no one could prove he couldn’t.

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In the mid1800s, the development of exciting new forms of communication, like photography and the telegraph, was considered miraculous. This technology also coincided with a new religious movement becoming popular in the US and Europe: spiritualism. Spiritualists believed that, through the use of a medium, contact with the dead was possible. During the bloody American Civil War (18611865), belief in Spiritualism grew.

It was during this time that William Mumler, an amateur photographer in Boston, claimed he could photograph ghosts. He and his wife Hannah, herself a professional photographer and Spiritualist medium, created a stir in Boston by selling these "spirit portraits," and attracted the attention of Spiritualists and skeptics alike. Professional photographers in Boston investigated Mumler's method again and again but couldn't figure out how he did his trick.

After accusations of fraud piled up in Boston, the Mumler’s relocated to New York City, the photographic capital of the US. Here, Mumler was quickly arrested on fraud charges, and his trial was sensationalized in New York newspapers. The prosecution even brought in circus showman P.T. Barnum to testify against Mumler. But, like the photographers in Boston, no one could confidently identify his method — and Mumler was acquitted.

Once the trial was over, the Mumlers' spirit photography business boomed. They photographed prominent Americans, including Mary Todd Lincoln and William Lloyd Garrison, and even took mailin orders from people who couldn't visit their studio in Boston. We visited photographic process historian Mark Osterman to demonstrate how Mumler could have used two negatives, printed simultaneously with a bit of sleight of hand, to fool witnesses into believing his "ghosts" were the real thing.

Our director of photography in Annapolis, Maryland, was Colin Faust.

Darkroom is a history and photography series that anchors each episode around a single image. Analyzing what the photo shows (or doesn't show) provides context that helps unravel a wider story. Watch previous episodes here:    • Vox Darkroom  

Note: The headline on this piece has been updated.
Previous headline: We tried to recreate this famous photo of a ghost

The Strange Case of William Mumler, Spirit Photographer, by Louis Kaplan:
https://www.upress.umn.edu/bookdivis...

The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln's Ghost, by Peter Manseau:
https://www.hmhbooks.com/shop/books/T...

Helen F. Stuart and Hannah Frances Green: The Original Spirit Photographer, by Felicity T.C. Hamer:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/1...

The Getty Museum’s collection of Mumler’s spirit photographs:
https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/...

Archive of “Banner of Light” and other Spiritualist newspapers:
http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/b...

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