The Invention of Ectoplasm
“A Storyville Menagerie” by the Author, Carlos Detres
“EJ Bellocq’s Dream” by the, Carlos Detres
““Ghosts are a metaphor for memory and remembrance and metaphorically connect our world to the world we cannot know about.” ”
Ectoplasm, the energetic remains and essence of our bodies, is the visual relief of our spirit. Its presence in early photography served to establish a supernatural tether to the afterworld from where the deceased could be beckoned for one last photograph, perhaps the only one made during the spirit’s entire existence.
If you’re familiar with the work that I do, you’ll recognize its use in my imagery although its clear that its implementation is a metaphor for a shared spiritual bond and entry into the world of the living. It was once used, however by “spirit photographers” as a means to part money from the agonized, heartbroken pockets of a grieving client.
At the turn of the twentieth century amidst the scene of war, rampant and incurable disease, death was abundant. In the homes of the living, the dead would be mourned but at the site of gruesome conflicts, a family would be without a body to share a last moment of grief and remembrance and if there was, it was likely so degraded by violence that an open casket memorial would further traumatize the sufferers of a loved ones passing.
Those with means could turn to spirit photographers who, like snake oil salesmen, plied their trade on the bereavement and desperation of their clientele. But for those who wanted one more moment with a loved one, but “if you’re going to lie to me, lie to me well”. After a consultation with the spirit photographer, the charlatan would sit their subject, hold the shutter end of a long cable attached to his wooden camera click. In the dark room, this master of illusion would manipulate the photograph in what would have been then an early type of Photoshop.
The loved ones would be presented a photograph. They’d sit in a parlor and look upon the figure behind them. There’s ectoplasm too, stringing from the mouth of the deceased to the body of a living subject. Or above them, floating in space, looking into the camera alongside. The illusion was fraud but it satisfied the viewer. In their mind, their departed companion, son, daughter, mother, father was still near. Adorned in black, they would leave, satisfied, with an illusion captured forever on a piece of celluloid clutched in their hands.
There were many debunkers during this era. The legendary magician, Harry Houdini was one of them but it mattered little to those wanting desperately to believe. Mostly forgotten, the decades passed, the photographs would be inherited from generation to generation, a symbol of a devious charlatan’s clever business scheme sold at a dusty antique shop. With time, however these images would become part of an important library in the great canon of photography’s history.
Some old pictures for you. Some of these manipulations are neat.
