1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: and welcome to this spooky episode of tech Stuff. I'm 3 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:23,279 Speaker 1: your ghost host Jonathan Strickland, executive producer with iHeart Podcasts 4 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: and today, Well, first, I want to give a shout out. 5 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: I was pondering what to cover on today's episode of 6 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:34,200 Speaker 1: tech Stuff, and I idly asked my best friend Shaye 7 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:38,559 Speaker 1: Lee what she thought I should do. Now. Shye is 8 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: a podcaster herself, but she's also a guide on ghost tours. 9 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: I've gone on her ghost tour before in Marietta, Georgia, 10 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: and it was quite entertaining. She's also a tarot reader, 11 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 1: she's an astrologer, and she's an all around witchy person. 12 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: And the fact that we can be such good friends 13 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: speaks very highly of her patients as well. Because I 14 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: am notoriously not a believer in any of those things. 15 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: But when I asked Shaye her opinion as to what 16 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: I should talk about, her response was seasonally appropriate that 17 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,959 Speaker 1: I should do an episode about tech that folks have 18 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,120 Speaker 1: used in order to pull the wool over other people's 19 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: eyes when it comes to stuff like ghosts and spirits. Now, 20 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,479 Speaker 1: in past episodes of tech Stuff, I have done episodes 21 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: about ghost hunting equipment. I did a recent rerun of 22 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,039 Speaker 1: ghost hunting equipment episodes. So the short version of those episodes, 23 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 1: if you haven't heard them, is that I do not 24 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: believe in ghosts, and in my mind, the equipment falls 25 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,759 Speaker 1: between two extremes. And on one end you have tech 26 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: that actually does do something, but it's completely unrelated to 27 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: ghost hunting, like an EMF reader for example. These devices 28 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: measure electromagnetic fields and they're important for folks like say, electricians. 29 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: If a house has faulty wiring, an EMF meter can 30 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: point an electrician in the right direction so that they 31 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: can address the issue. Now, on the other end of 32 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:11,239 Speaker 1: the spectrum are tools that, as far as I can determine, 33 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: have no real purpose, but they've been adopted and promoted 34 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: by ghost hunter types. So an example of this category 35 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: would be spirit boxes, which just scan through radio frequencies. 36 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: So the idea is that spirits are somehow capable of 37 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:32,360 Speaker 1: sending messages by manipulating radio waves in an inexplicable way, 38 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: and not just manipulating radio waves, right, It's not just 39 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: that you tune a radio to a frequency that's unused, 40 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: so you're just getting static. That's not what you're doing. Instead, 41 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: the ghost is somehow able to communicate across different frequencies. 42 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: So this would be like having a pair of walkie talkies, 43 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: but in order to hear what your best friend is saying, 44 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: you would have to change the frequency channel at just 45 00:02:56,240 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: the right time and in sync with your friend. Otherwise 46 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: you would just get a blip of what your friend 47 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: was saying as they went through the different channels, and 48 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: that's it. Now. Some spirit boxes flip through frequencies relatively slowly, 49 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,240 Speaker 1: and that means the occasional word or sound from an 50 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: actual radio station will make its way through and that 51 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,079 Speaker 1: you'll hear it and you'll understand it. But obviously, if 52 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: it's going that slowly, that means you could just hear 53 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: a local radio program and you might just use some 54 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: creative thinking to make whatever you heard fit whatever narrative 55 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: you are searching for in your quest to support the 56 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: existence of ghosts. Other spirit boxes are designed to rapidly 57 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: scan through frequencies so that you're not likely to hear 58 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: anything clearly. But how a ghost is supposed to communicate 59 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: through that kind of method beats the heck out of me. 60 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: Like a ghost has to be really determined to talk 61 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: to you if they are going to manipulate radio waves 62 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: in a cascade of frequencies. Unless the idea is that 63 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: when you hit upon something, you stop and then you 64 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: try to listen in, because that would be just like 65 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: hitting the scanner button on a digital radio, where it's 66 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: just going to seeking out, you know, strong radio frequencies 67 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: one after the other, and that doesn't really seem like 68 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: a useful tool to be either. Now, this is a 69 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: really good point to drive home. So much of ghost 70 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: hunting technology is based upon a very faulty premise, which 71 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: is the presumption that ghosts can manipulate phenomena ranging from 72 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,799 Speaker 1: electromagnetic waves in general to radio waves specifically. Because here's 73 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: the thing, y'all, ghosts haven't been proven to be a 74 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: thing yet in the first place. So to me, that's 75 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,480 Speaker 1: like you're putting the cart before the horse. You know, 76 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: if you say, if this meter goes beep, there's ghosts, 77 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: that's a problem. If you haven't yet proven that ghosts 78 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,920 Speaker 1: are even a thing. You have to do that first. 79 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,040 Speaker 1: Then you have to establish that these ghosts, which are 80 00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:59,840 Speaker 1: definitely a thing, can do whatever it is you're cl 81 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:02,920 Speaker 1: they can do. In short, the argument the ghosts can 82 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: manipulate phenomena at all presupposes that ghosts exist. That's not 83 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 1: the way science works. This is where I have to 84 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: again hammer home the fact I am a skeptic. Do 85 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: I think it's outside the realm of possibility that ghosts exist? Well, 86 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: if I'm being honest, yeah, I do think that. I mean, 87 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: I don't know everything though, right I do not know 88 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: for sure, but I don't believe it, and I'm pretty 89 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: I feel pretty confident it's not a thing. What I 90 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,279 Speaker 1: do know is that no one so far has produced 91 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: evidence that satisfies me to suggest otherwise that I can 92 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: say for sure, even if ultimately, if you put all 93 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:47,120 Speaker 1: the truth into a sieve, you would come up with 94 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: I don't know for sure. I have, however, plenty of 95 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:55,719 Speaker 1: evidence of people using technology to fake the existence of ghosts. 96 00:05:55,960 --> 00:06:01,360 Speaker 1: Hoaxsters and hucksters, snake oil salesmen and con artists. These 97 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: folks have made use of technology to fool wishful thinkers 98 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,359 Speaker 1: and those saddened by the passing of loved ones that 99 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:12,799 Speaker 1: communication beyond the veil is indeed possible, and that spirits 100 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: persist after earthly life. Has been extinguished. We don't have 101 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: satisfactory evidence showing that ghosts are a thing, but we've 102 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: got lots showing how unscrupulous people have tried to fool 103 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 1: naive marks. Now, to be clear, you don't need technology 104 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: to fool people. You know, some folks are just predisposed 105 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: to believing in spirits for one reason or another. They've 106 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,840 Speaker 1: done most of the work for you, and a charismatic 107 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,159 Speaker 1: medium might convince an audience that the medium can converse 108 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:47,039 Speaker 1: with spirits simply through some routines that make little use 109 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: of technology at all, from an audience plant, which could 110 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: be very effective, to cold reading practices, which are a 111 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: variable effectiveness. It all depends upon the skill of the 112 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,920 Speaker 1: medium doing the cold reading, but technology we certainly can 113 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: help out. Now, in this episode, we're mainly going to 114 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: focus pun intended on photography. Now, to do a full 115 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: history of photography would take multiple episodes of tech stuff, 116 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: So we're gonna hit some major highlights, and we're starting 117 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: in the early nineteenth century because there was a French 118 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: Smarty Pants who had the temerity to have the very 119 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: French name of nisseephor Nips, and he came up with 120 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: this mad idea of finding a means to make permanent 121 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: the images that could be projected by a camera obscura. Now, 122 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:43,559 Speaker 1: my drugies. The camera obscura was typically a darkened room 123 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: where you have no source of light other than a 124 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: tiny pinhole cut through one wall. Light enters through the 125 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: pinhole and then projects on the opposite wall from where 126 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: the pinhole is. Right, that's how light works. It travels 127 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: in a straight line. The remarkable thing thing is this 128 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: light would actually project an image of the scene that 129 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: was outside the darkened room on the opposite wall. So 130 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: if you set one of these up and it was 131 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: across from let's say a mountainscape, Like you're in a 132 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: nice field and there's a mountain in the background, and 133 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 1: you set up a camera obscura. So you've set up 134 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: a room, a dark room that has just a pinhole 135 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: in it on the opposite wall. You could see the 136 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 1: scene of the mountain. It would be gorgeous, it'd be dim. Oh, 137 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: also it would be upside down and reversed. Now how 138 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:35,559 Speaker 1: is that possible, Well, it's physics. It's a property known 139 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: as the rectilinear propagation of light. But the phenomena opened 140 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:44,079 Speaker 1: up artistic opportunities. You could have a sketch artist or 141 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: painter set up inside a camera obscura and they have 142 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: a canvas on the wall where the image will be projected. 143 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: They could then use the projected light to guide their 144 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: hand as they painted a copy of the scene, and 145 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: then you would just turn the canvas over and you 146 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:01,680 Speaker 1: could look at it side up, though it was still 147 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: reversed right, so that was an issue. Plus, the light 148 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: coming through the pinhole was not really that intense. It 149 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: wasn't a very strong projection, so it's still pretty dim. However, 150 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: through the use of things like optics like lenses and mirrors, 151 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: it was possible to one gather more light so you 152 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: get a brighter image projected. But you could also with 153 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: the mirrors re reverse the image so that it was 154 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:29,680 Speaker 1: right side up and not reverse left or right. Even so, 155 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: the effect was ephemeral, right, The image wasn't permanent. You 156 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,559 Speaker 1: could go into the room and see the image projected 157 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: on the wall, which is pretty, but you could also 158 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: just go outside and look at the landscape directly without 159 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: looking at the projection. So the best you could hope 160 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: for was to sketch and paint a copy of the image. 161 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: Nipps wanted to find a way to really capture an 162 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: image and then have it stay put. Now, about a 163 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:01,320 Speaker 1: century earlier, a German professor of a natic demonstrated that 164 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: a solution of silver salts would darken when it was 165 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: exposed to light. It was photoreactive, and further, he proved 166 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: that it was light that caused the darkening process and 167 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: not heat. That was something that some other people had 168 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: put forward as a possible reason for this silver solution 169 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,679 Speaker 1: to turn dark. Nips decided he would coat a sheet 170 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,080 Speaker 1: of paper with silver salts and project an image with 171 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:32,960 Speaker 1: a camera obscura onto that sheet of paper, and he 172 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: produced his first image this way in May of eighteen sixteen. However, 173 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 1: the image was not permanent because once you brought this 174 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: image out into the light, well, that light would cause 175 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:49,280 Speaker 1: the rest of the sheet to darken as well. It 176 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: would cause the reaction on all the untouched silver salts 177 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 1: that were coated on this piece of paper to also 178 00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: turn dark, so your image would fade and just turn 179 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,960 Speaker 1: dark across the entire canvas. Plus, the image he created 180 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:07,560 Speaker 1: was also a negative. The areas that were hit with 181 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:10,280 Speaker 1: the most light were the darkest, and the ones that 182 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,120 Speaker 1: were hit with the least light were the brightest, so 183 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: that meant that the brightest lit parts of your image 184 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 1: would end up being the darkest parts in what you 185 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:22,679 Speaker 1: would get a negative image. Now, Nips experimented with photochemical 186 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:26,680 Speaker 1: compounds that would bleach rather than darken when exposed to light. 187 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 1: But still there was the issue of this resulting image 188 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: disappearing once the whole thing got exposed. But yeah, you 189 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: could bleach parts and then you don't have a negative 190 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:37,880 Speaker 1: image anymore. But once you take it out of the 191 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,360 Speaker 1: camera obscura and sunlight starts hitting it, the whole image 192 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,200 Speaker 1: begins to have this photochemical reaction. He also began to 193 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,120 Speaker 1: work with some chemical compounds that react to light, but 194 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 1: they don't produce visible changes on their own unless they're 195 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 1: later treated to a separate chemical process. He eventually lit 196 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:00,960 Speaker 1: upon using bitumen of judea, which is a kind of 197 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:06,280 Speaker 1: naturally occurring asphalt. It's a tar like substance, and when 198 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 1: it is exposed to sunlight it becomes non soluble with 199 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:15,960 Speaker 1: certain chemicals like nitric acid also known as aquafortis. He 200 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: would coat a plate, typically a copper or ten plate, 201 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:23,800 Speaker 1: with a varnish of this bitumen of Judea. Then he 202 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: would take some translucent paper he would have like an 203 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: etching on a piece of paper, treat that paper so 204 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: that the paper would become translucent, and then lay that 205 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: on top of one of these plates. Then he would 206 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:38,520 Speaker 1: expose the whole thing to sunlight for several hours, and 207 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 1: enough light would pass through the translucent parts of the 208 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: paper to cause a photochemical reaction to the exposed bitumen. 209 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 1: The stuff that was shaded by etching would not react 210 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:55,320 Speaker 1: to sunlight, right because it's not getting hit. Then once 211 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:57,960 Speaker 1: he was finished, once he had done this for a 212 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: while and had developed or exposed, I guess I should say, 213 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 1: exposed the plate to sunlight for a few hours, he 214 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 1: would give the plate a rent in a pretty darn 215 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:12,040 Speaker 1: aggressive solution, and it would dissolve the bittermen that wasn't 216 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:16,160 Speaker 1: exposed to the light, and it left the stuff that was. 217 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:18,600 Speaker 1: The stuff that wasn't exposed to the light would remain 218 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:22,520 Speaker 1: soluble and would dissolve. The stuff that had been exposed 219 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:25,319 Speaker 1: to light was insoluble and would stay on the plate. 220 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: So what you would end up with is a negative 221 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:32,280 Speaker 1: image where the exposed plate would be the stuff that 222 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 1: was the original etching, and then the stuff that still 223 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,680 Speaker 1: had Bittmen on it would be the parts where light 224 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 1: was able to pass through. He took a similar approach 225 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: to make this work with a camera obscura, using lithographic 226 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:48,720 Speaker 1: stones originally that were coded in bittermen of Judea. To 227 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:52,560 Speaker 1: capture a scene. It would take days of exposure to 228 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: have enough of the photochemical reaction take place to a 229 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: point where the exposed bittermen would not wash away when 230 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: treated with these very abrasive chemicals. He would take that 231 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:05,960 Speaker 1: negative image, typically used on a plate of silver, and 232 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:08,200 Speaker 1: he would put that in a box that had crystals 233 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:11,960 Speaker 1: of iodine in it, and the crystals would evaporate, exposing 234 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:15,360 Speaker 1: the plate to iodine fumes, and this would cause the 235 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:18,959 Speaker 1: exposed silver, the bits that were not covered with the 236 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: bitumen coating, to oxidize, and this oxidized silver would be 237 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: a coating of silver iodide. He then would clear the 238 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: varnish of bittermen off the rest of the image, so 239 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 1: he'd take off the stuff that had been reactive with 240 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: the sunlight and he would expose it to light, which 241 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: would then cause the silver iodide sections to darken, while 242 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:47,080 Speaker 1: the stuff that had been exposed to bitumen or had 243 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,040 Speaker 1: been covered by bittermen doesn't. So essentially he used two 244 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 1: separate instances of photochemical reactions to create a positive image, 245 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 1: and photography, the early science of photography was born. We're 246 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: going to take a quick when we come back, we'll 247 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:06,800 Speaker 1: talk about how developments to use another pun would change 248 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 1: photography and open up the opportunity for the spirits to 249 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:23,560 Speaker 1: commune with us, or so we were told. All right, 250 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 1: so we talked about nips and the invention of photography. Now, obviously, 251 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 1: over the following years a lot of people would advance 252 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 1: this technique, but the basic idea would remain the same. 253 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 1: You would take a photoreactive surface, you would expose that 254 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: surface to light under controlled conditions for an appropriate amount 255 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: of time. Then you would process the negative image in 256 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: order to create a positive image. But there was another 257 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: intriguing possibility. You could expose a photoreactive surface more than once, 258 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: and you could create really interesting effects that way. Whether 259 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 1: it was a glass plate that had been coded in 260 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: photoreactive chemicals or a film with a suspension of similar 261 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 1: chemicals that are coding it, you could capture two images 262 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: on a single surface and combine the two actually you 263 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 1: could do it more than twice, although the more you did, 264 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: the messier things would typically turn out, until you would 265 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 1: just get a big blur. But we're going to skip 266 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: ahead a little bit. You could also, by the way, 267 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: combine two different negatives together. You didn't have to actually 268 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: physically take a photograph with the same negative. You could 269 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,720 Speaker 1: take two different negatives and combine them through superposition and 270 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 1: develop a single image from the combination. But let's talk 271 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 1: about how modern film cameras work to kind of understand 272 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:50,480 Speaker 1: the science of double images on photography. Now, keep in 273 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: mind the principles I'm talking about applied throughout the history 274 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 1: of the development of this art. But let's kind of 275 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 1: talk about the basic elements of a modern care camera. 276 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 1: So with a modern camera, you've got your optics. You've 277 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:06,160 Speaker 1: got a lens. This lens focuses light onto the surface 278 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: of photoreactive film or maybe an image sensor. If you're 279 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: talking about a digital camera, you've got a shutter. The 280 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 1: shutter's job is to block light from coming through the 281 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: lens and hitting your film or sensor until the photographer 282 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: actually wants to take a photo. And you typically have 283 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:28,280 Speaker 1: a mechanism in film cameras to advance and rewind the 284 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:31,360 Speaker 1: film so that you can take distinct images. So when 285 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: a photographer pushes the button on a camera, the shutter 286 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:38,760 Speaker 1: opens for a precise amount of time. Now, professional cameras 287 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: let photographers adjust how long the shutter exposes the film, 288 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:46,359 Speaker 1: also how much the shutter opens in order to expose 289 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,920 Speaker 1: the film. So faster shutter speeds are used to capture 290 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 1: fast moving subjects because if the shutter's open longer, it's 291 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: gathering more light. If something's moving, it's going to be 292 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,000 Speaker 1: a blurry image. Sometimes you might want that, that might 293 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,400 Speaker 1: be the effect you want. But in other cases, let's 294 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:03,720 Speaker 1: say you want to take a very precise photo of 295 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,400 Speaker 1: something that's moving very very fast, you need to have 296 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: the shutter open and close in a fraction of a second. 297 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 1: So this is why cameras that are used to film 298 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 1: extremely high speed subjects in very slow motion, they need 299 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 1: a whole lot of light to do it. Because that 300 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: shutter is open for just the tiniest fraction of a second. 301 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 1: It has to be able to gather as much light 302 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:27,639 Speaker 1: as possible in order to form an image. So you 303 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 1: need more light to light these kinds of scenes. Now, 304 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:33,640 Speaker 1: if something isn't moving at all, then you can use 305 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:36,199 Speaker 1: a longer shutter speed and much less light. In the 306 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:40,280 Speaker 1: early days of photography, you often had people sitting still 307 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: for minutes at a time in order for a camera 308 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: to gather enough light so that you could get a 309 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,880 Speaker 1: decent photograph. This is one of the reasons you hear 310 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: people in old pictures aren't smiling. It's not because they 311 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:56,879 Speaker 1: were all dour all the time. It's because they would 312 00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: have to sit for a photograph for minutes at a time, 313 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 1: and holding a rictus grin for like five minutes is 314 00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:06,920 Speaker 1: not the most fun experience. So instead you would sit 315 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: still and patient, and you would wait until the photographer said, 316 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 1: all right, that's enough time, and then you could go 317 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: about your day. So you would have a more neutral 318 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 1: expression on your face, and that would mean that you 319 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: would be able to gather enough light, even in a 320 00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:26,399 Speaker 1: dim interior setting, to be able to develop a decent photograph. Well. Typically, 321 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:30,880 Speaker 1: cameras advance the film after you take an image. Essentially, 322 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,960 Speaker 1: it pulls the film so that the next section of 323 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:37,119 Speaker 1: unexposed film is in place in order for you to 324 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:40,200 Speaker 1: take your next photo. To create a double exposure, you 325 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: would need to either prevent the film from advancing, or 326 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: you would need to rewind it back to its original 327 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:50,360 Speaker 1: frame that you had already exposed with your original photograph. 328 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,119 Speaker 1: Then you would take a second photograph, so you are 329 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,919 Speaker 1: shooting over your previous frame. When you develop the film 330 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:01,200 Speaker 1: to produce negatives and then ultimately insper these to create 331 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 1: positive images, you end up with a combined photograph of 332 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:07,960 Speaker 1: those two shots, the second one on top of the 333 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,400 Speaker 1: first one. So for your standard photography, the second photo 334 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:15,600 Speaker 1: typically ends up being a background shot. For most uses 335 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:19,880 Speaker 1: of double images here like you might take a landscape 336 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,240 Speaker 1: shot as your second photograph that lets you place your 337 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:26,400 Speaker 1: first photographic subject pretty much wherever you would like them 338 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,720 Speaker 1: to be, or have them interact with some sort of 339 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:34,119 Speaker 1: environment that otherwise they aren't present for now. For it 340 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,199 Speaker 1: to work really well, you typically want your first image 341 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: to have a lot of dark areas in it, because 342 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,679 Speaker 1: those dark areas are under exposed to light, meaning that 343 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:48,719 Speaker 1: you haven't created this photochemical reaction for that part of 344 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:52,880 Speaker 1: the film, and your second photograph, the under exposed part 345 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,399 Speaker 1: of the film from the first one, are going to 346 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,400 Speaker 1: receive more exposure to light, and the images you capture 347 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 1: will show up in those areas that were dark in 348 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:04,440 Speaker 1: the first photograph. Let me explain by giving an example. 349 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:07,760 Speaker 1: Let's say you take a picture. You have a model, 350 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 1: and your model is standing close to you, and you 351 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 1: have your model in silhouette. You've got a source of 352 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:17,639 Speaker 1: light behind the model, so you've set your camera so 353 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:21,640 Speaker 1: that you're focusing on this model, but they are in silhouette. 354 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,080 Speaker 1: You know, it's a dark shape and the light is 355 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,199 Speaker 1: coming from behind them. You take that image, so now 356 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 1: you've got a picture of someone. Where that someone is 357 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 1: you can't really see them very well, they're a silhouette. 358 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:37,080 Speaker 1: But then you take a second picture. Let's say you know, 359 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:39,359 Speaker 1: you've rewound the film so that you're using the same 360 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 1: frame again, and you go and take a photo of 361 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,960 Speaker 1: a city scape at night. So it's this brightly lit 362 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:49,640 Speaker 1: city scape. Well, the under exposed parts of film from 363 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: the first picture are going to bring in that light 364 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,639 Speaker 1: from the second one. That's what's going to show up 365 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:57,760 Speaker 1: in the silhouette. So when you develop your photograph, you're 366 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,920 Speaker 1: going to have this silhouette of a but instead of 367 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 1: it just being a dark silhouette, it's a city scape 368 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:07,320 Speaker 1: in the shape of a person. Silhouette. It's really a 369 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: cool effect, and there's lots of different ways of playing 370 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: with this. This is just a very basic example, but 371 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: photographers have been using this double exposure technique for years 372 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:21,719 Speaker 1: to produce all sorts of interesting compositions. You can do 373 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,120 Speaker 1: similar things, by the way, with digital cameras. In fact, 374 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,359 Speaker 1: you can do things with digital cameras where they have 375 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 1: apps that allow you to do this and they'll just 376 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,880 Speaker 1: handle the whole all the processing and give you the effect. 377 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 1: But in the old days, you could achieve this effect 378 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:40,639 Speaker 1: in camera. You didn't have to do any special processing 379 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: after the fact to get it. Now you could by 380 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:47,399 Speaker 1: taking two separate images and then just combining negatives together. 381 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: You could do that as well with the superimposing one 382 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,480 Speaker 1: negative on top of another, but this method, you did 383 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:55,959 Speaker 1: it all in camera. Then you would go and develop 384 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,439 Speaker 1: your film and see the result. So the medium of 385 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 1: choice in the old days of photography wasn't film because 386 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:07,240 Speaker 1: we weren't really into plastics yet. Instead, what was being 387 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:11,360 Speaker 1: used in say the mid to late nineteenth century were 388 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 1: glass plates that had been coated with photoreactive chemicals, and 389 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:19,400 Speaker 1: you would slide the glass plate into a camera. Then 390 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 1: you would take a photograph with the camera. This would 391 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 1: expose the areas of the glass plate to light. You 392 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 1: could then remove the glass plate, use some chemicals to 393 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 1: develop the image, then transfer that image to a sheet 394 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,440 Speaker 1: of paper where you get your positive photograph. Then, best 395 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 1: of all, if you're a photographer, you could clean the 396 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:43,600 Speaker 1: glass plate thoroughly and then use that same glass plate again. 397 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:47,560 Speaker 1: You would coat the glass plate with new photoreactive chemicals 398 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,640 Speaker 1: and use it again to take another image. Now, clearly 399 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,560 Speaker 1: doing that would destroy your negative in the process, like 400 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:56,960 Speaker 1: the negative that you took with the first picture, but 401 00:23:57,359 --> 00:23:59,480 Speaker 1: it meant that you didn't have to throw away a 402 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,440 Speaker 1: glass plate and go buy a new one. Now, generally, 403 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 1: double exposures were something that photographers wanted to avoid. If 404 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 1: it happened, it was often due to carelessness, and typically 405 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: it resulted in an unusable image. But then we get 406 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:18,639 Speaker 1: a forward thinker, William H. Mumler, who was a true opportunist. 407 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:23,439 Speaker 1: Mumbler would take a photographic accident and turn it into 408 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:29,200 Speaker 1: a lucrative, though brief occupation. As he became a spirit photographer, 409 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:33,879 Speaker 1: some call him the first spirit photographer. Whether or not 410 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,399 Speaker 1: he really was the first, I can't say, but he's 411 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: often credited as such. Well, he had a pretty decent 412 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:44,439 Speaker 1: career until he got arrested for fraud. That put a 413 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,920 Speaker 1: small hiccup in his plans, but ultimately he would be acquitted. 414 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 1: I'll talk more about that in just a bit. Now, 415 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:55,679 Speaker 1: here's how the original story typically is told. In the 416 00:24:55,720 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: early eighteen sixties, Mumler sat for a self portrait photograp 417 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,919 Speaker 1: He was an enthusiast. That was not his job. He 418 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:06,879 Speaker 1: was not a photographer, but he was interested in the 419 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:11,040 Speaker 1: art and technology of photography. So while he was taking 420 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 1: a self portrait, he unknowingly did so while using a 421 00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: glass plate that had not been properly cleaned since the 422 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 1: last time it was used to take a photograph, so 423 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 1: the negative image of an old photograph was already on 424 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,800 Speaker 1: the plate when he used it. Now, this old image 425 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 1: was of his cousin, who tragically had died more than 426 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:37,040 Speaker 1: a decade earlier. When Mumbler developed this self portrait, he 427 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:39,879 Speaker 1: was surprised to see a faded image of his deceased 428 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: cousin apparently posing with him for this picture, and he 429 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 1: appeared solid, but his cousin appeared transparent. Mumbler then allegedly 430 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,359 Speaker 1: got the idea to create a whole business around this phenomena, 431 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,040 Speaker 1: manufacturing images of spirits to cater to a nation that 432 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: at the time was stricken with grief. In the wake 433 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:02,200 Speaker 1: of the Civil War. Countless families were mourning the loss 434 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,199 Speaker 1: of people who had died in that conflict, and it 435 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:09,000 Speaker 1: had given rise to a general interest in spiritualism and 436 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:13,080 Speaker 1: in ghosts. After all, families wanted the comfort of knowing 437 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,800 Speaker 1: that their loved ones were still out there somewhere, comforted 438 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,879 Speaker 1: in an afterlife, with the knowledge that those back on 439 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:24,120 Speaker 1: earth still thought of them and loved them. Now, maybe 440 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:28,840 Speaker 1: the whole accidental photograph thing is true, or maybe Mummler 441 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: had a goal in mind and kept working until he 442 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:34,480 Speaker 1: was able to achieve it. You know, maybe he did 443 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:38,240 Speaker 1: double exposures to do it, just in camera double exposures, 444 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:41,720 Speaker 1: but he also could have used the technique of superimposing 445 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,400 Speaker 1: negatives before developing a final image, and that actually would 446 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,040 Speaker 1: give him more options to that if he just held 447 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,240 Speaker 1: on to negatives and then combined negatives together in the 448 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:56,080 Speaker 1: post processing part of photography. Now, the actual method he 449 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,719 Speaker 1: used wasn't really that important. What was important is that 450 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:04,119 Speaker 1: Mumler got to work providing images to grieving families for 451 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:08,320 Speaker 1: a fee. Of course, Mumbler maintained that he was just 452 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: as surprised as anybody else that his seemingly normal camera 453 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 1: had somehow attained the remarkable ability to capture images of 454 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 1: the dearly departed. His shtick was that he was just 455 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:25,120 Speaker 1: a simple man who, through reasons unexplained, could take photographs 456 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 1: of ghosts. He would make sure those customers knew there 457 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,119 Speaker 1: was never a guarantee that a ghost was going to 458 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,080 Speaker 1: show up, or if a ghost did show up, that 459 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:37,920 Speaker 1: that ghost would definitively be the person that the subject 460 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:40,760 Speaker 1: was hoping for, and that would mean at times that 461 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,760 Speaker 1: he didn't have access to a negative or a previous 462 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:48,000 Speaker 1: image that really fit a family's story, So it would 463 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,400 Speaker 1: leave him scrambling to work with the customer in order 464 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:56,200 Speaker 1: to figure out who a ghostly figure might actually be, like, well, 465 00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: that's clearly not Aunt Midge, but maybe it's someone else, 466 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:02,760 Speaker 1: So you know, now, this is a lot like cold reading. 467 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 1: That's a practice where a supposed psychic fishes for information 468 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,400 Speaker 1: with a mark and relies almost entirely upon the subject 469 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 1: to provide all the details, and later folks will often 470 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:16,880 Speaker 1: say the medium somehow came up with all these details 471 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:19,320 Speaker 1: on their own, when in fact it was the subject 472 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:23,159 Speaker 1: who supplied everything. It's an old con and it still 473 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 1: works today. Mumbler did get tapped for fraud, but that 474 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,920 Speaker 1: took a while. I'll explain after we come back from 475 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:43,560 Speaker 1: this break. Just before the break, I mentioned that Mummler, 476 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:48,520 Speaker 1: our spirit photographer, got tagged for fraud, but it didn't 477 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 1: happen right away. He even dodged some metaphorical bullets that 478 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:55,200 Speaker 1: theoretically should have brought things to an end much sooner 479 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 1: than it happened. So. For example, according to an article 480 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,920 Speaker 1: by David Russ inistory dot com, Mummler once took a 481 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:05,080 Speaker 1: photograph of a woman whose brother had died in the 482 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:08,120 Speaker 1: Civil War, and so he produces this image that has 483 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,720 Speaker 1: this ghostly figure posing next to this woman, and she 484 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:15,880 Speaker 1: goes home thinking, I now have a portrait that proves 485 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 1: my brother still persists after his untimely death in this 486 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: terrible war. Except for one thing. Her brother later returned home, 487 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 1: having miraculously not having died at all during the Civil War. 488 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:33,400 Speaker 1: Reports of his death, as they say, were greatly exaggerated. 489 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: Now you would think that this would lead to Mummler 490 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:39,840 Speaker 1: being exposed as a fraud because here he was producing 491 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 1: a photograph of this woman's ghostly dead brother. But he's 492 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:47,520 Speaker 1: not dead. He comes back. The woman, however, became convinced, 493 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: either through Mumbler or otherwise, that the ghostly image in 494 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:55,120 Speaker 1: her photograph was actually some sort of vengeful, malevolent entity 495 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,760 Speaker 1: that was intent on leading her astray. So it wasn't 496 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:02,600 Speaker 1: Mummler's fault, it was just a malevolent spirit. Now. What 497 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:04,920 Speaker 1: was harder to explain away was a case in which 498 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:08,120 Speaker 1: a customer recognized that one of the ghosts appearing in 499 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 1: a photograph was actually his very much not dead spouse, 500 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:15,280 Speaker 1: which indicated that Mummler was in fact holding on to 501 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:19,040 Speaker 1: old negatives that he produced in his photography business and 502 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 1: then made use of those negatives to manufacture his spirits 503 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:27,160 Speaker 1: for his more gullible clients. So what did Momler do 504 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,000 Speaker 1: in that case, Well, he followed the early advice that 505 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,200 Speaker 1: you would hear in McElroy brother episodes of My Brother, 506 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 1: My Brother, and Me, and he packed up and moved 507 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:39,040 Speaker 1: out of town. He left his operation in Boston, Massachusetts, 508 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 1: and he set off for the greener pastures of New York. However, 509 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 1: it was in New York that he got picked up 510 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:51,080 Speaker 1: for fraud in eighteen sixty nine. The trial had some 511 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:57,719 Speaker 1: notable expert witnesses, including the infamous P. T. Barnum, the 512 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:02,840 Speaker 1: ringleader of Circus, and Barnum brought along with him a 513 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:07,160 Speaker 1: portrait he had made that had himself in it, along 514 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 1: with the ghostly figure of the very much dead ex 515 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:15,080 Speaker 1: President Abraham Lincoln in it. Barnum used the photo to 516 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 1: show how Mummler's photographs could be produced through earthly means 517 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:24,080 Speaker 1: when no ghosts required, and apparently other experts gave similar 518 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:28,960 Speaker 1: examples and showed how different photographic processes could create the 519 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 1: very same effects that Mummler had produced. So while they 520 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: could not necessarily identify the specific method used by Mummler, 521 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: they showed that there were lots of different approaches that 522 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 1: could do it. So the jury hears about nearly a 523 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: dozen different methods photographers could potentially use to produce photographs 524 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:54,520 Speaker 1: just like Mummler's, and they acquitted him. What. Well, Yeah, 525 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:57,720 Speaker 1: the jury understood that there were ways you could fake 526 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: the photographs, but they said that no one had actually 527 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:05,120 Speaker 1: caught Mummler doing any of those. So since Mumler wasn't 528 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:08,000 Speaker 1: caught in the act, And since photography was such a 529 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,680 Speaker 1: new and, at least to the layman, largely unknown art form, 530 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,840 Speaker 1: it stood to reason that, hey, maybe photographs can also 531 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,120 Speaker 1: be capable of capturing images of the dearly departed. So 532 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:22,160 Speaker 1: this is like the opposite of Akham's razor is the 533 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:27,160 Speaker 1: Okham's raiser says that the simplest explanation is usually the 534 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:31,920 Speaker 1: best one. So what is simpler that photography could prove 535 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:37,000 Speaker 1: that ghosts exist something that has never once been proven ever, 536 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:41,120 Speaker 1: that it could be the one technology that cements forever 537 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 1: the proof of spirits, or that humans, using documented, proven, 538 00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:54,800 Speaker 1: replicable techniques created the effect. Well, Aukham's razor tells us 539 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:57,640 Speaker 1: that the thing we know for a fact can happen 540 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:00,520 Speaker 1: is far more likely to be the explanation than a 541 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:04,080 Speaker 1: thing we don't know at all. But the jury saw otherwise, 542 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:08,400 Speaker 1: and Mummler walked free. He would later make more contributions 543 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:12,280 Speaker 1: to the world of photography, legitimate contributions. In fact, in 544 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:16,120 Speaker 1: one obituary his connection with spirit photography barely merited a 545 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:20,120 Speaker 1: mention at all, So I would say that he definitely 546 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:22,840 Speaker 1: got off lightly, though I don't know how much business 547 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:27,800 Speaker 1: his spirit photography received after his well publicized trial. The 548 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:32,520 Speaker 1: reports on that are varying. Some people say, oh, no, 549 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,520 Speaker 1: he went right back into business and people didn't care. 550 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: Others say, yeah, no, the spirit photography gig was pretty 551 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:41,440 Speaker 1: much up at that point. So I don't know what 552 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:45,040 Speaker 1: the truth is. But there are countless examples of similar 553 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:48,680 Speaker 1: photographs that have been submitted to support the existence of ghosts. 554 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 1: And it's baffling in many ways because we know for 555 00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:56,040 Speaker 1: a fact there are simple means of producing those effects, 556 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,760 Speaker 1: either on purpose or by accident, and yet the reliance 557 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:03,560 Speaker 1: on these images to serve as evidence persists. There are 558 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:07,720 Speaker 1: other photographic anomalies that are often presented as evidence of ghosts. 559 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:11,000 Speaker 1: A big one would be ghost orbs. Those are little 560 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:14,120 Speaker 1: floating balls of light within the frame of an image. 561 00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:17,280 Speaker 1: These sometimes show up not just in photographs, but also 562 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:20,560 Speaker 1: in video as well. They are not the product of 563 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:24,920 Speaker 1: the development process or produced by taking multiple images on 564 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:28,239 Speaker 1: the same frame of film or whatever. These are just 565 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:32,799 Speaker 1: due to the nature of light and optics and photography, right. So, 566 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:35,319 Speaker 1: ghost orbs are something you see with photographs that are 567 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:39,480 Speaker 1: taken in dark situations or dark settings, and the orbs 568 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,279 Speaker 1: aren't orbs at all. They're just reflections. So in a 569 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:46,560 Speaker 1: dark place, you have to provide your own light, because 570 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,560 Speaker 1: that's what a camera is doing. It's capturing light, and 571 00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:52,400 Speaker 1: if there is no light, then there can be no image, 572 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:55,040 Speaker 1: whether you're talking about a digital camera that has a 573 00:34:55,120 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 1: light sensor or traditional film camera, unless you're capturing something else. 574 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:04,719 Speaker 1: It's like infrared light, which we can't see anyway, and 575 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:08,080 Speaker 1: then using a development process to actually make that into 576 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:11,200 Speaker 1: a visible image, you need to provide some light yourself. 577 00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:14,080 Speaker 1: So you have a camera that's got a flash on it, 578 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:16,600 Speaker 1: and when you take a photograph, the flash goes off, 579 00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:20,560 Speaker 1: the scene is briefly, very brightly lit. It's just long 580 00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:23,160 Speaker 1: enough for light to pass through the lens as the 581 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:27,200 Speaker 1: shutter opens and exposes the film or light sensor to light. 582 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:31,520 Speaker 1: But in that flash, any motes of dust or bugs 583 00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:34,920 Speaker 1: or droplets of water that are closer to the camera 584 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:39,280 Speaker 1: and the flash bulb also get illuminated, and the reflections 585 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:43,319 Speaker 1: from those tiny things show up as orbs in your 586 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:47,600 Speaker 1: finished photograph. It's called backscatter, and it's not indication that 587 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:51,799 Speaker 1: there are ghosts. They're just reflections of particles that are 588 00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:55,440 Speaker 1: reflecting light and showing up very brightly in your camera 589 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:59,080 Speaker 1: because your camera's straining so very hard to collect whatever 590 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:02,040 Speaker 1: available light is there in order to make the image. 591 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:04,200 Speaker 1: And when you know what, a lot of ghost hunting 592 00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:07,880 Speaker 1: stuff takes place in dark and dusty environments, and you 593 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,759 Speaker 1: need a flash or some other light source to eliminate 594 00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:14,319 Speaker 1: the scene. We wouldn't see these orbs in person, but 595 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:18,160 Speaker 1: the camera, which is designed to direct light efficiently to 596 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:21,640 Speaker 1: the film or the sensor does and it's not a ghost. 597 00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:24,080 Speaker 1: It's just a mote of dust or droplet of water 598 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:27,640 Speaker 1: or tiny little bug flying around. Dust particles that are 599 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 1: closer to the camera are going to reflect more light 600 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:33,520 Speaker 1: into the lens, and because they're not in focus, you know, 601 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,840 Speaker 1: you're focusing on something else, some scene in which a 602 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:41,560 Speaker 1: ghost might appear, you know, like say some old shelves 603 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:44,680 Speaker 1: in a basement, or maybe you're shooting up an old 604 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:49,680 Speaker 1: staircase in an abandoned chateau or whatever. So you're focusing 605 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:53,360 Speaker 1: on a distant scene and a close up mot of 606 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:57,560 Speaker 1: dust is meanwhile reflecting light from the flash, and boom, 607 00:36:57,600 --> 00:36:59,759 Speaker 1: you got yourself your ghost orbs. Now I think it 608 00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:02,960 Speaker 1: might Next episode, I'm going to tackle some relatively recent 609 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:08,080 Speaker 1: additions to the ghost hunter's toolbox, namely the rim pod. Now, 610 00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:10,680 Speaker 1: I imagine my disappointment when I learned that an rim 611 00:37:10,719 --> 00:37:13,880 Speaker 1: pod is not some sort of insulated sleeping cabin that 612 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:17,280 Speaker 1: pumps songs like Losing My Religion or the Sidewinder sleeps 613 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:21,680 Speaker 1: Tonight into my ears. Now, rim pod stands for radiating 614 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:26,480 Speaker 1: electromagneticity pod, and I can't wait to dive into that 615 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:30,759 Speaker 1: for our next episode, because golly, it's silly. But that's 616 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:35,920 Speaker 1: gonna wait for Wednesday's episode. It's another Halloween appropriate topic 617 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:39,520 Speaker 1: for tech stuff. In the meantime, I hope all of 618 00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:43,000 Speaker 1: you out there are doing well. If you are someone 619 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:46,839 Speaker 1: who has a deep belief in spirits and ghosts, I 620 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:49,360 Speaker 1: am not here to tell you that you are wrong. 621 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:54,080 Speaker 1: I am here to say that based upon my view 622 00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:57,480 Speaker 1: of the world and my need for extraordinary evidence to 623 00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:02,040 Speaker 1: support extraordinary claims, go hosts and spirits remain in the 624 00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:05,319 Speaker 1: realm of fantasy for me. Maybe one day someone will 625 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:09,600 Speaker 1: produce evidence sufficient enough for me to say I was wrong. 626 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:13,480 Speaker 1: They do exist, and here's the proof that shows it. 627 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:16,920 Speaker 1: But it hasn't happened yet. Take care of my friends, 628 00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:26,800 Speaker 1: and I'll talk to you again. Really, soon. Tech Stuff 629 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:31,440 Speaker 1: is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit 630 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:35,000 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 631 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:39,759 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.