This is a personal, non-sponsored post by a member of BuzzFeed's ad content team.
Old School Ghost Hunting In Photographs
These eerie vintage photographs were created to reveal "spirits." In actuality, Victorian-era photographers just used double exposures and darkroom manipulation to mimic paranormal phenomena!
"Spirit photography"—a practice that attempts to capture images of ghosts—emerged in the 1860s, coinciding with a rise in spiritualism in the United States.
Because photography was a misunderstood medium at the time, cunning photographers could trick ordinary citizens into believing that they could reveal the spirits around them.
Clients would pay for fraudulent seances or sittings.
And the pictures they got back always had ghosts!
Really, the "spirits" were a result of double exposures, image overlays, and other darkroom techniques.
