Waiting for the magical effect.

HAVING examined carefully the plate of glass, and removed from its surface any adhering fibre or dust, take it in the left hand, holding it with the forefinger and thumb by the upper left-hand corner, and with the bottle of iodized collodion in the other hand, pour from the bottle on to the glass, towards the upper right-hand corner, such a quantity of the solution as will run in a body freely.

Whilst pouring the iodized collodion on to the glass, tilt the glass slightly towards the upper right-hand corner, and when this is reached, incline the glass to the upper left-hand corner, but not touching it, to avoid coming in contact with the thumb of the left hand; this corner passed, run the iodized collodion down towards the lower left-hand corner, and finally incline the glass to the lower right-hand corner, at the same time holding the glass upright over the neck of the bottle (which should be retained in the right hand whilst the operation is going on), to allow the superfluous collodion to drain off into the bottle; during the time it is draining, move the plate vertically backwards and forwards over the neck of the bottle, to prevent the furrowed appearance the film is likely to assume if allowed to drain quietly to the lower right-hand corner.

To perform the above operation with certainty, requires a steady hand, and some little practice. After the glass has drained for a few seconds, and the collodion has ceased running from the plate, it should be immersed in the exciting bath; from five to twenty seconds may elapse between the two operations; if the drying is prolonged, the sensibility and evenness of the coating are injured, and the iodide of silver is liable to be thrown out from the film on to its surface.

Very often, in dry, hot weather, the plate will require to be immersed in the exciting bath directly the film has set; if the plate has been allowed to dry too much, the iodide from the upper part of the plate will most likely be thrown out on to the surface of the film, and be washed away by the liquid in the exciting bath. Care should be taken not to breathe upon the surface of the glass during the operation of pouring on the iodized collodion.

OXIDE OF SILVER.

Sym: AG + O.

Eq. 116. Silver 108 + Oxygen 8

Oxide of silver can be obtained from a solution of nitrate of silver, by the addition of a solution of pure potassa, or soda; oxide of silver is set free and falls as an insoluble brown powder; it should be repeatedly washed to remove all traces of the excess of potassa, or soda,and the nitrate of the alkali formed. After washing, it should be thrown upon a clean linen filter to drain, and afterwards dried; or it can be preserved in a moist state in a wide-mouthed bottle.

CHLORIDE OF SILVER.

Sym: AG + C.

Eq. 144. Silver 108 + Chlorine 36

Chloride of silver is most conveniently formed by the addition of a solution of common salt, (chloride of sodium,) to a solution of nitrate of silver. It falls readily as a white precipitate, and should be repeatedly washed, to free it from the excess of common salt, and the nitrate of soda formed during the process. After washing, it may be collected on a linen filter, and subjected to pressure to free it from moisture, and then dried, or it may be preserved in a moist state. It is soluble in ammonia, hyposulphite of soda, iodide and cyanide of potassium.

with my spirits. WELCOME BACK

closed for holidays

new purchases

New acquisitions in my atelier vintage Victorian BACKDROPS... 

see you soon ... dear readers, This time I have very little time.,

THE FEBRUARY meeting IS FULL

The intruder

Crewe Circle

William Hope (Crewe, England, 1863-1933)

Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures
(Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Lady Doyle in the center row, left)
Silver Print, 3 x 5 inches, before 1922

Inscribed on verso: "Annual Meeting of trhe Society for the Study of Supernormal Photography (sic) at the Psychic College Holland Park N.W."

The Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures was established as a rival to the Society for Psychical Research (S.P.R.). The S.P.R. was founded in 1882 by a group of scientists intent on making an organized and systematic inquiry into "the large group of disputed phenomena referred to as mesmerism, psychism, spiritism."
The S.S.S.P. was launched in 1918 in London and by May of 1920 issued a statement declaring:

The members here present desire to place on record the fact that after many tests and the examination of thousands of pictures, they are unanimously of the opinion that results have been obtained supernormally on sensitive photographic plates under reliable test conditions. At present the members do not undertake to explain how the results have been obtained, but they assert that they have undoubtedly been secured under conditions excluding the possibility of fraud.

The most famous member of the S.S.S.P. was its Vice President, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle was a physician and the creator of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. He was also an ardent spiritualist and after 1919 a strong advocate of the spirit photographs produced by William Hope of Crewe. When the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research published investigator Harry Price's expose of Hope in 1922, Conan Doyle responded with a book called The Case for Spirit Photography. Doyle's book sets forth a conspiracy theory for the entrapment of William Hope that Sherlock Holmes would have found anything but "elementary."

A view of the unidentified spirit "extra" in the S.S.S.P. photograph

William Hope continued to make spirit photographs, and Doyle succeeded in making him something of a martyr. But Doyle's conspiracy theory and the best efforts of the S.S.S.P. were not enough to counter the unmasking of spirit photographers and physical mediums in general. In 1926, investigator Harry Price would write, "Our photographic mediums are becoming fewer. One after another, they are being exposed. Supernormal photography is the only phenomenon that will not stand up to the 'strict test' of pure scientific research..."

... The Crewe Circle was a spiritualist photography group based in Crewe, England in the latter half of the 19th century. The group was founded by William Hope and its photography was investigated by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle later went on to write the book The Case for Spirit Photography based on his investigation. In later years many of the photographs were found to be confirmed as fraudulent double-exposures.The paranormal investigator Massimo Polidoro wrote that Harry Price and his colleagues in 1922 from the Society for Psychical Research gave William Hope a glass plate they secretly marked with an X-ray. When Price received back the glass plate it no longer had the X-ray on the glass, which led them to claim that Hope had switched the glass slide. Instead of accepting the fraud, the spiritualist Arthur Conan Doyle accused Price of framing Hope to discredit him. In 1932 Fred Barlow who had worked with Hope gave a lecture exposing the methods the Crewe Circle used to fake spirit photography. Regarding Conan Doyle and the Crewe Circle, Polidoro wrote it is "practically impossible (and futile) to try to convince someone who wants to believe even in the face of quite convincing contrary evidence."

!!!! As a young man Hope was employed as a carpenter, but he quickly came to prominence in paranormal circles after claiming to be able to capture images of spirits on camera. Hope produced his first spirit image in 1905. Soon afterwards he formed the Crewe Circle Spiritualist group, with himself as the leader.
In 1906, Hope managed to dupe William Crookes with a fake spirit photograph of his wife. Oliver Lodge revealed there had been obvious signs of double exposure-the picture of Lady Crookes had been copied from a wedding anniversary photograph. However, Crookes was a convinced spiritualist and claimed it was genuine evidence for spirit photography.
On 4 February 1922, the Society for Psychical Research and the paranormal investigator Harry Price with James Seymour, Eric Dingwall and William Marriott had proven Hope was a fraud during tests at the British College of Psychic Science. Price wrote in his report "William Hope has been found guilty of deliberately substituting his own plates for those of a sitter... It implies that the medium brings to the sitting a duplicate slide and faked plates for fraudulent purposes."
Price secretly marked Hope's photographic plates, and provided him with a packet of additional plates that had been covertly etched with the brand image of the Imperial Dry Plate Co. Ltd. in the knowledge that the logo would be transferred to any images created with them. Unaware that Price had tampered with his supplies, Hope then attempted to produce a number of Spirit photographs. Although Hope produced several images of spirits, none of his materials contained the Imperial Dry Plate Co. Ltd logo, or the marks that Price had put on Hope's original equipment, showing that he had exchanged prepared materials containing fake spirit images for the provided materials.
Price later re-published the Society's experiment in a pamphlet of his own called Cold Light on Spiritualistic "Phenomena" - An Experiment with the Crewe Circle. Due to the exposure of Hope and other fraudulent spiritualists, Arthur Conan Doyle led a mass resignation of eighty-four members of the Society for Psychical Research, as they believed the Society was opposed to spiritualism.
In 1932, Fred Barlow, a former friend and supporter of Hope's work and also the former Secretary of the Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures, along with Major W. Rampling-Rose, gave a joint lecture to the Society for Psychical Research to present findings gleaned from an extensive series of tests on the methods Hope used to produce his spirit photographs.
Barlow and Rampling-Rose concluded that the "spirit extras" that appeared in Hope's photographs were produced fraudulently. The pair would later present their case in depth in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research.
Despite Price's findings, Hope still retained a noted following, including author and spiritualist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who refused to accept any evidence that Hope was a fraud and went to great lengths to clear his name, going so far as to write a book supporting spirit photography, The Case for Spirit Photography, in response to Price's claims of fraud and trying to convince Price to withdraw his story.

...fizzy SAMHAIN dear followers !!!

Practical studies in Spirit Photography, Spirit Portraiture, and Other Rare ...

Manipulated images have been used to deceive people for a long time. The fad of spirit photography around the turn of last century was responsible for separating a lot of gullible people from their money.
Below it is a leaf from an autograph book from the same era, a little doggerel from a skeptic.

Mr.Poe

THE DAGUERREOTYPE

(1840)

THIS WORD is properly spelt Daguerréotype, and pronounced as if written Dagairraioteep. The inventor's name is Daguerre, but the French usage requires an accent on the second e, in the formation of the compound term.
The instrument itself must undoubtedly be regarded as the most important, and perhaps the most extraordinary triumph of modern science. We have not now space to touch upon the history of the invention, the earliest idea of which is derived from the camera obscure, and even the minute details of the process of photogeny (from Greek words signifying sun-painting) are too long for our present purpose. We may say in brief, however, that a plate of silver upon copper is prepared, presenting a surface for the action of the light, of the most delicate texture conceivable. A high polish being given this plate by means of a steatitic calcareous stone (called Daguerreolite) and containing equal parts of steatite and carbonate of lime, the fine surface is then iodized by being placed over a vessel containing iodine, until the whole assumes a tint of pale yellow. The plate is then deposited in a camera obscure, and the lens of this instrument directed to the object which it is required to paint. The action of the light does the rest. The length of time requisite for the operation varies according to the hour of the day, and the state of the weather--the general period being from ten to thirty minutes-experience alone suggesting the proper moment of removal. When taken out, the plate does not at first appear to have received a definite impression--some short processes, however, develope it in the most miraculous beauty. All language must fall short of conveying any just idea of the truth, and this will not appear so wonderful when we reflect that the source of vision itself has been, in this instance, the designer. Perhaps, if we imagine the distinctness with which an object is reflected in a positively perfect mirror, we come as near the reality as by any other means. For, in truth, the Daguerreotyped plate is infinitely (we use the term advisedly) is infinitely more accurate in its representation than any painting by human hands. If we examine a work of ordinary art, by means of a powerful microscope, all traces of resemblance to nature will disappear--but the closest scrutiny of the photogenic drawing discloses only a more absolute truth, a more perfect identity of aspect with the thing rep resented. The variations of shade, and the gradations of both linear and aerial perspective are those of truth itself in the supremeness of its perfection.
The results of the invention cannot, even remotely, be seen-but all experience, in matters of philosophical discovery, teaches us that, in such discovery, it is the unforeseen upon which we must calculate most largely. It is a theorem almost demonstrated, that the consequences of any new scientific invention will, at the present day exceed, by very much, the wildest expectations of the most imaginative. Among the obvious advantages derivable from the Daguerreotype, we may mention that, by its aid, the height of inaccessible elevations may in many cases be immediately ascertained, since it will afford an absolute perspective of objects in such situations, and that the drawing of a correct lunar chart will be at once accomplished, since the rays of this luminary are found to be appreciated by the plate.

a mild autumn sunday

Stereo wet collodion

Shall devote a chapter to the stereograph and its philosophy;in this I shall simply give plain instructions for taking the stereoscopic negative by the wet collodion process.


private collection

In the ordinary stereoscopic negative, as in every negative, the pictures are laterally inverted, and when printed, this inversion is corrected only for each picture individually, for the right-side picture is still inverted and in the place of the left-side picture. In consequence of this, the printed stereographs have to be cut apart, and mounted so that the right-hand photograph is placed on the right side, and the left hand photograph on the left side. When taking pictures of still life, as also others, where the living objects are not in motion, it is very easy to manage matters so as to invert the photographs on the negative. The method is as follows: Take a large-sized camera-stand, allowing sufficient space for the camera to slide laterally. Placing the camera in the right-hand corner, focus the left-hand lens. Next slide the camera gently, or lift it up and place it in the left corner, and focus the right-hand lens. The space between the centers of the two pictures thus focussed must be about two inches and three quarters. Whilst the camera is in this position on the left side, insert the sensitized plate, take out the slide, uncover the right-side cap for a second or two, and take this picture. Then close up the lens, lift up the camera gently and place it on the right side. In this position uncover the left-side lens for the same length of time. In this way, and in the space of ten seconds or so, the two pictures can be taken in a proper condition for printing so as to produce a non-inverted stereograph. For such work it would be no difficult task to contrive a slide by which a single lens would be all-sufficient; that is, when the camera is on the left side, the lens must slide to the right side, and vice versa on the right side.




As soon as the negative is this taken, it has to be developed before it gets dry. The development and fixing can be performed in a dark tent specially arranged for such purposes. Various contrivances have been adopted in landscape photography for these operations. For my own part I consider a simple hand-cart, with iron rods from corner to corner diagonally, in the form of semi-ellipses, and covered with a balloon-shaped tent, a very practical accommodation. But each successful photographer is somewhat of a genius, and can easily arrange a dark chamber according to his own taste and materials on hand.




Negatives thus taken and fixed are placed carefully away in slides where they can not be injured during transportation home. In the evening, or the next day, or at any convenient time, the negatives are examined; if clear, transparent in the lights, and sufficiently intense in the shades, they are varnished. On the contrary, if the opacity of the shadows is not deep enough, although the appropriate gradation exists between the lights and shades, it will then be deemed necessary to proceed to intensification. Previously the edges of the negatives must be varnished to the depth of one tenth of an inch upon the collodion, to prevent its peeling off during the operation. This is effected by dipping the quill end of a feather into the varnish, and then running along the edge of the collodion and of the glass, with this portion of the feather slightly inclined, so that the varnish does not drop oil; a sufficient quantity is attracted upon the collodion as you proceed. After this put the negatives aside, that the varnish may become thoroughly dry and hard. As soon as it is dry, immerse the plates in rain-water, and allow diem to remain there for about a quarter of an hour, by which time the collodion film will have become saturated iv with this fluid.