CHAPTER VIII
EVIDENTIAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF PSYCHIC PHOTOGRAPHY

By Fred Barlow

Hon. Sec. S.S.S.P., Hon. Sec. Birmingham and Midland S.P.R.

No phase of psychical research has been more adversely criticised in the past than psychic photography. This is undoubtedly due to the prevalence of many erroneous ideas on the whole subject.

It is a popular fallacy that it is the easiest thing in the world to fake a “spirit” photograph. Those few photographers who have tried to imitate a genuine psychic effect have usually made the discovery that it is by no means so easy a matter as it appears, even when no restriction is placed on the conditions under which the fake should be produced. When conditions are imposed, similar to those usually obtaining with, say, the Crewe Circle, the difficulty of producing a fraudulent result is enormously increased. Under certain conditions, where suitable precautions are employed and where the sitter has a thorough knowledge of photography, plus an acquaintance with trick methods, even the possibility of deception without detection can, for all practical purposes, be ruled out of court. Under these special conditions, investigators of repute have on many occasions secured successful psychic results.

Apart altogether from any question of test conditions, however, there are certain results which, in themselves, afford definite proof of their genuine nature. I refer to those recognised psychic likenesses obtained by sitters who are quite unknown to the sensitives and who have secured results which could not possibly have been prepared in advance. One such case would be sufficient to establish the reality of psychic photography. It is no exaggeration to say that this has actually occurred on scores of occasions, and, in consequence, the evidence for the truth of psychic photography is overwhelming.

It has been said that recognised psychic likenesses exists only in the imagination of the individuals claiming them as such. It is, alas, too true that some well-meaning individuals will see a likeness where none exists. It is, however, equally true that many bigoted sceptics will refuse to acknowledge a likeness that is obvious to the unprejudiced on comparing normal and supernormal photographs. There are two sides to the question of credulity, and I have known sceptics deny the reality of a likeness where the supernormal effect has been an exact (but draped) duplicate of a normal photograph!

We must remember that it may be difficult to recognise a likeness between a normal and supernormal photograph where the subject to us is unknown. Two photographs of the same individual, taken at different periods, will often vary considerably, but those acquainted with that individual can recognise the likeness of each photograph to the original without the slightest difficulty. So in a supernormal photograph: those claiming a likeness between the supernormal effect and some near relative, or friend, who has crossed the border, are in a better position, from their knowledge of that person, to speak with authority on the question of recognition than those who never saw the original. This question of recognised likenesses is a point the critic tries to evade. The reader can judge of the value of this evidence from the few illustrations in this booklet which are typical of hundreds of similar results.

The mental attitude of some intelligent people to psychic photography is distinctly curious. They have got the idea fixed into their heads that these photographs must be one of two things—“fakes” or “spirits.” Naturally enough, in some of the cases that have been reported they find it difficult to believe that such a result could have been produced entirely by a discarnate entity. Therefore they jump to the false conclusion that the result must of necessity have been faked. In a scientific investigation we should first of all concern ourselves with facts, without troubling over-much with theories. A very little first-hand investigation will satisfy any unprejudiced individual as to the reality of psychic photography. Having reached that stage such a person will be in a better position to theorise on the cause of the phenomena.

After many years of close concentration on this subject I have arrived at the conclusion that psychic photography differs only in kind and not in degree from other phases of psychic phenomena. I do not see how we can possibly get away from the fact that many of these photographic effects are produced by discarnate intelligences. Whilst firmly believing this, I should never be so dogmatic as to claim that all supernormal pictures have been produced by discarnate spirits.

Spirit, whether discarnate or incarnate, to manifest to our material senses must make use of matter—there must be a medium. A medium, or sensitive, is just as essential for psychic photography as for, say, automatic writing. As investigators are aware, in automatic script it frequently happens that along with communications from the “other side” come writings derived from the subconsciousness of the automatist, and such, I am convinced, is often the case in psychic photography.

The subconscious is used to cover a multitude of theories. Certainly it is not an unfeasible explanation in some instances. Let me cite one case, which is typical of many. One of the members of the S.S.S.P.—Mr. Hobbs, of Purley, a keen business man—travelled to Crewe with his wife. They and the Crewe Circle were perfect strangers to each other. Mrs. Hobbs at the time was wearing a locket containing a photograph of their son, who had been killed in the war. This was tucked away out of sight in her blouse. The usual séance was held and to their great delight the visitors secured a picture of their boy. Trickery was impossible. Even supposing Mr. Hope had seen the photograph in the locket there was no time to produce a fraudulent result and foist this upon the alert sitters. A careful examination of the print, however, reveals the fact that the psychic picture is an exact but reversed duplicate of the photograph in the locket. Even the rim of the locket can be clearly seen. This sort of thing has occurred time and again.

The image of the locket would be indelibly impressed on the memory of the mother, and it may well be that in some peculiar way the sensitive proved a medium for the projection of that conscious or subconscious image on to the photographic plate. Such an argument is not to be lightly dismissed, and the fact that the image obtained on the plate may not have been in the conscious mind of the sitter at the time does not necessarily affect the issue. I candidly admit that some such explanation may account for many of these curious effects.

Sometimes the psychic pictures are facsimile copies of magazine covers and pictures no fraudulent medium would ever think of producing, and, like the faces in our dreams, they may come from the subconscious. At the same time, attempts to produce definite conscious thought-pictures, with the co-operation of a photographic medium, have almost always proved abortive in our experiments in this country. Some of the Continental members of the S.S.S.P., however, have concentrated on this line of research and have succeeded in obtaining thoughtgraphs which, more or less, resemble the object on which the thoughts of the subject have been intensely concentrated. These experiments, and, in particular, recent photographic experiments in connection with subjects under hypnosis, are yielding encouraging results.

We must be careful not to overdo the subconscious. It is no self-contained unit, but rather an instrument used in the production of these phenomena. In consequence, it frequently happens that along with communications from the “other side” comes matter derived from the subconsciousness of the sensitive and even from that of the sitter. An investigator obsessed with the idea of fraud will often effectively negative all phenomena by his unconscious action on the mentality of the medium. In these investigations we must use that uncommon faculty of common sense. Common sense tells us that we cannot accept the explanation that all psychic photographs are produced by the thoughts of incarnate beings. Whether it agrees with his pet theories or not, the serious student is bound to realise that, sooner or later, other minds are at work distinct from, and often superior in intelligence to, that of either medium or sitter. These intelligences claim to be the spirits of the so-called dead. They substantiate their claims by giving practical proof that they are whom they purport to be.

For example, what better proof of survival could be given by a deceased person than that of a message in his own handwriting, referring to events that happened after his death? Such messages are by no means an unfrequent occurrence. There can be no doubt about the genuineness of the handwriting. Major R. E. E. Spencer has gone to an immense amount of time and trouble in making photomicrographs of normal and supernormal writings for the purpose of comparison. Illustrations are given of two of these photomicrographs. Figure 16 shows a portion of the signature of Archdeacon Colley taken from a letter written by him before death, whilst Figure 17 shows a corresponding portion reproduced from a photographic message received after his death. This message referred to events subsequent to his decease.

Occasionally, in these psychographs, as these written photographic messages are termed, the mentality of the medium or sitters will get in the way, with very curious results. Throughout all these phenomena, however, there is every indication that other influences are at work. Whoever or whatever these intelligences behind the scenes may be, in no uncertain voice they claim to be discarnate souls. Surely they are in a better position to form a correct opinion hereon than we material outsiders?

How do the psychic images get on to the plate? Far too much time, in the past, has been lost in attempting to convince those who do not believe (and those who do not want to believe), of the genuine nature of psychic photography, and our ignorance of this phenomenon is appalling. The difficulties attending scientific research in this domain are considerable. So far, we can only definitely say that in many instances the psychic figures on the plate are not objective in the same sense as the sitters. The supernormal images have every appearance of having been projected on to the sensitive plate, independently of the lens and camera. In employing several cameras simultaneously, together with a stereo camera, I have only succeeded so far in securing a psychic image on one of the plates exposed.

There are indications that in some cases the psychic effects are printed on to the plate through a psychic equivalent to our normal transparency—in fact, it has come to be known as a psychic transparency. Identical transparency markings are to be found on the plates of photographic sensitives from all parts of the world. These particular markings can clearly be seen over the negative obtained by Mr. Harry Price in his experiment with Mr. Hope. I am convinced that the effect obtained on this occasion was a genuine psychic result. The possibility of this is freely admitted by Mr. Price. The fact that in nine cases out of ten the psychic images are the same way up as the sitter suggests that the “something” that occurs actually takes place after the plate has been inserted in the dark slide. Such small points as these may eventually play an important part in the final solution of the modus operandi.

Now let us return to the object of this book—the question of evidence. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has dealt so thoroughly, earlier in these pages, with the recent attacks by the S.P.R. and the Magic Circle that I do not propose to refer to them again here at length. As illustrating the impartial attitude of the Society of which I have the honour to be Secretary, however, I would like to say that almost immediately on the publication of these critical reports the matter was discussed by the members of this Society, and it was arranged to subject the whole of the evidence to a thorough investigation. In this connection the S.S.S.P., in conjunction with the B.C.P.S., sought the co-operation of the Society for Psychical Research and the Occult Committee of the Magic Circle.

A proposal was sent to the bodies mentioned expressing the desire of the S.S.S.P. to subject the charges to thorough and impartial investigation, and suggesting that three members from each of these four bodies should form a committee of investigation. The members elected by the S.S.S.P. were Dr. Abraham Wallace, President, Col. C. E. Baddeley, C.M.G., O.G., and Major R. E. E. Spencer, three careful and experienced investigators. For reasons best known to themselves, both the S.P.R. and the Occult Committee of the Magic Circle refused to entertain this suggestion. The reader can draw whatever inference he likes from this uncompromising attitude. To my mind such a refusal is directly opposed to the objects for which the Society for Psychical Research was formed.

A striking example of the persistence of personality is to be found in the case of the late Mr. Wm. Walker, of Buxton. Mr. Walker was the President of the Buxton Camera Club. Being a keen photographer, he took an intense interest in the work of the Crewe Circle and co-operated with them in numerous experiments. He was the first photographer to obtain psychic photographic results in colours (by the Paget process) through the mediumship of his friends.

Shortly before the late Mr. W. T. Stead left this country for his last voyage to America, Mr. Walker saw him in London. Mr. Stead was very interested in the results obtained at Crewe and strongly urged his friend to keep him posted as to future developments. A little while later Mr. Stead was drowned on the ill-fated Titanic. On May 6th, 1912, Mr. Walker, in experimenting at Crewe, was surprised and pleased to receive on his plates a message from his friend, which read:

Two plates had been exposed; both contained the same message, but in one case the writing was reversed and appeared as “mirror writing,” as it is called. This result is shown by Figure 18. The writing does not reproduce very clearly, but experts have declared that, beyond all doubt, it is identical with the handwriting of the late W. T. Stead.

Mr. Wm. Walker followed Mr. Stead into the Great Beyond a few years later. Since his death his relatives and friends have received innumerable tokens of his activities on the “other side,” in connection with the subject in which he was so interested whilst in the body. The illustration shown by Figure 19 represents a normal photograph of Mr. H. Walker and his wife (son and daughter-in-law) and two friends, with a clearly-defined supernormal likeness of the late Mr. Wm. Walker. This was taken under satisfactory test conditions on February 19th, 1916.

As illustrating the interest Mr. Walker still takes in the Crewe Circle, attention is directed to the psychograph shown by Figure 20. This was secured late on Friday evening, July 28th, 1922, and reads (my own punctuation):

The postscript refers to Mr. Walker’s son, who resides in Crewe. I have examined a number of letters in the handwriting of Mr. Walker, senior, and find that the slip in spelling is such that he might make. A portion of one of these letters is reproduced on Figure 21, and when compared with the psychograph alongside it should leave no doubts in the mind of the reader as to authorship.

It is perhaps unnecessary to state that the instructions given by Mr. Wm. Walker were carried out to the letter. The results of the short visit of the Crewe Circle to Buxton are best described by quoting an extract from a letter I received from Mr. Henry Walker:

The Crewe Circle invariably place implicit faith in the messages they receive from the other side. These worthy and simple people are very closely in touch with their invisible helpers, who advise them, by means of photographic messages, in their troubles and ailments. Occasionally the advice given has been directly opposed to the wishes of the mediums, but they never hesitate to carry out these instructions, which usually prove that the directing intelligences possess knowledge and foresight far exceeding that of their human instruments.

I can appreciate that some of my readers will experience difficulty in accepting these remarkable statements. When first I heard of these marvellous things I put them down to credulity, exaggeration, and so forth. However, I determined to get at the truth for myself. Nothing less than personal experience would satisfy me. The first psychic photographs I saw did not very greatly impress me. As a photographer, I recognised that I could produce similar results, and with the conceit that comes from ignorance I suggested they were fakes. Even as fakes they were interesting, however, and on inquiring further into the matter I discovered that the conditions under which they had been secured would necessitate smart work on the part of a trickster. Also I was puzzled to understand how photographers of the calibre of Mr. J. Traill Taylor could be easily gulled. Eventually I travelled to Crewe in a rather critical frame of mind, but fully prepared to be fair to the mediums. I received a surprise. The result obtained bore a strong resemblance to myself. It could easily be taken as a twin brother. I had a brother who, when he died, was a little older than myself. I was given practically a free hand in the photographic operations, and was impressed by the faith and honesty of the mediums. To detail all the precautions I took from time to time to eliminate the possibility of conscious and even unconscious deception, in my further experiments, would prove a wearisome business. Suffice it to say that the use of my own apparatus and specially-prepared plates, the dismissal of the medium from the dark room for all the photographic operations, the sharp look-out that was kept for certain known methods of faking, and the conducting of experiments with the mediums in my own home, eventually convinced me, beyond all doubt, of the reality of psychic photography.

I discovered early that the mental attitude of the sitter played an important part in the success or otherwise of the experiment. We know so little of the difficulties that have to be overcome—so little of the laws and conditions governing the production of these wonderful results, that it is essential we should approach the subject with an open mind. We must be sympathetic in our methods of investigation. A medium is sensitive in more senses than one, and a little tact and persuasion will succeed where bullying and blustering will fail.

With the three photographic sensitives most known in this country I have secured remarkable results. Whatever may have happened, or may happen, on other occasions, nothing can in the slightest degree shake my firm conviction that, with these three sensitives, I have secured genuine psychic photographic effects. With Mrs. Deane, in my own home, we secured an excellent picture of my father (see Figure 30). True, Mrs. Deane had the plates beforehand for “magnetising,” but that would not enable her to produce an unmistakable likeness of someone she had never seen—a likeness which could not have been produced from any existing photograph, in the very unlikely event of her obtaining such. Moreover it is not essential, in every case, that Mrs. Deane should have the plates beforehand for magnetising. On several occasions, members of the S.S.S.P. have, without Mrs. Deane’s knowledge, substituted a fresh unopened packet of plates for the unopened packet she has had with her, without interfering with the success of the experiment.

Mr. Vearncombe has been most successful as a medium for obtaining results on plates in sealed packets. Effectively to test Mr. Vearncombe, I devoted a great deal of time to wrapping and sealing packets which could not possibly be tampered with without leaving some trace of such tampering. Others have done likewise, and on the plates in such packets, which after the most careful scrutiny have revealed no evidence of tampering, we have secured successful results. On one occasion I persuaded a local professional photographer to seal a packet of plates before I handled them. This he did very thoroughly, and then I added my own wrappings and seals and sent the package on to Vearncombe. Within a week the packet was returned intact.

Mr. Frederic Lewis of Birmingham, who co-operated with me in this test, is a technical photographer of more than average ability and his certificate is of value. In this he states:

Could anything be more definite and conclusive than that?

With the Crewe Circle I have had so many tests that it is difficult to select the most stringent. As the well-known Price case of alleged fraud bears on the question of the substitution of dark slides, the following case may be of interest. On this occasion the substitution of dark slides was impossible, for the simple reason that no dark slides were used.

Saying nothing to the members of the Circle beforehand, I took with me to Crewe on November 12th, 1921, a loaded box camera containing six specially-marked plates of a size smaller than those usually employed in experiments of this nature. All that Hope and Mrs. Buxton did was to arch their hands over this magazine camera whilst one of them flicked the shutter-catch. Photographic readers will realise that it is impossible to tamper with the plates in a box camera, in daylight, without spoiling the lot. To enable the “power” to flow from Mr. Hope on to the plates, the controlling intelligence stipulated that Mr. Hope should be allowed to take hold of my right wrist as I dropped each plate into the developer. Psychic effects were secured on two out of the six plates under conditions which, I am convinced, rendered deception impossible. I have been told that Mr. Hope must have printed the effects on to the plates by flashlight whilst he had hold of my wrist. If the critic derives any comfort from believing that this actually occurred he is welcome to his belief!

In another evidential case is that already mentioned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of an experiment conducted by two photographic members of the S.S.S.P. and myself at Crewe. In this case the camera and slides employed were brand new and were not examined by the sensitives until after the sitting. The dark slides differed from those usually employed by the sensitives. Neither Mr. Hope nor Mrs. Buxton was in the dark room for loading the slides or for developing the plates. The central face of three supernormal faces secured on this occasion is an undoubted likeness of the father of one of the sitters. The result was absolutely conclusive to my friends and myself. We emphatically declare that under the circumstances trickery was impossible.

Fig. 20.—Psychograph in the handwriting of Mr. Wm. Walker obtained at Crewe on July 28th, 1922. Compare with normal handwriting shown in Fig. 21. (See p. 88.)

Fig. 21.—Portion of letter written by Mr. Wm. Walker during his lifetime for comparison with psychograph Fig. 20.

Fig. 22.—Mr. S. Maddocks, Hon. Sec. of the Sheffield and District S.P.R., with psychic photograph of his first wife. Compare with Fig. 23. (See p. 113.)

Fig. 23.—Photograph of Mr. Maddocks’ first wife for comparison with Fig. 22.

Since the above was written I have been favoured with further excellent personal proof. On October 7th, 1922, I secured at Crewe several fine photographs of my father. The best were secured on plates exposed in a camera brought by one of three friends who accompanied me. He is an experienced and critical photographer, and was responsible for the whole of the photographic operations. Reference to Figure 31 will show that the psychic face has moved and appears in no less than six different places. This face is very similar to the Deane photo (Figure 30), but by no means absolutely identical.

The next chapter contains a series of abbreviated accounts and reports by investigators in every station of life. For the purpose of this book they are confined to accounts connected with the Crewe Circle. In my capacity of Hon. Secretary to the S.S.S.P. it is my privilege to receive these documents in ever-increasing numbers. I imagine that the most hardened sceptic, occupying a similar position for a few months, would be convinced of the reality of psychic photography by this evidence alone. Knowing it to be true, I look forward with confidence to that day, not far distant, when all this talk of fake and fraud shall be no more and when the psychologist and scientist shall combine the investigation of this vital problem.