By the time spirit photography reached its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it had already become a blend of curiosity, grief, technical novelty, and depending on who you ask, a bit of hopeful imagination. The photographs that defined this era became some of the most widely circulated paranormal images of their time. Whether viewed as genuine attempts to show the unseen, or clever examples of what can be achieved in a photographic darkroom, these early photos shaped much of today's belief in visual evidence.

This lesson looks at some of the key figures and images from that early period. We're not trying to judge whether the photos were real or faked, but instead to understand their influence, why people found them convincing, and how they helped establish the foundations of paranormal imaging as a practice.30The first widely recognised spirit photographs were created by William H. Mumler, and...