I absolutely despise Mediums. There aren't many other types of exploitation as reprehensible as twisting someone's grief into a way to take their money from them.
@@t-reidtrue307 I've been in the paranormal community over 20 years even co hosted one of the first internet radio shows and yeah all we talked was the paranormal. I've talked to three kinds of mediums in my life. Most of them are just nuts they think they talk to the dead but its in their heads. Then the next most common are the scammers using magic tricks to rip people off. The last that seem to have something are far less common.
Mary Todd Lincoln's story is so sad. She buried almost all of her children. Her husband was murdered at her side. Her brothers were all confederates during the Civil War, and most of them died too. She lost so much, and this guy took advantage of that. Well, as you said, at least he didn't die rich.
What I really appreciate about this series is how you're able to tell the stories in ways that aren't completely one sided, but also aren't pretending "all sides are equal". The skill *is* impressive, but skillfulness does not have any moral weight.
Grifters and goons of history. The twist is that if he had have tried to apply his obvious incredible talent in an honest direction, he could have become a modern household name.
I'm just doing an exchange with a friend where we both make ghostly prints using multiple negatives to create one image in the darkroom. It's really cool to see some of the actual history here. And I have to say, it's not an easy thing to do!
I kept thinking there would eventually be a tie back to current con men but instead, got a very nice historical essay. This video has kind of a Knowing Better vibe without odd, time traveling characters executing the narration. Great work Steve.
Just echoing all the accolades from everyone else for this marvelous piece, so sharp and uncompromising. But I also wanted to add that I noticed right away that the length was 13:13, which is just *chef’s kiss* perfection!
Prosecution should have found other photography experts and had them create similar pics on demand and under court witness. This technique would not have been a secret one; many photographers would have known about double exposure.
People that do this stuff, your “spirit mediums,” that claim to be able to contact a grieving persons dead loved ones are about the lowest form of humanity. We’ve all done things in life we regret and feel guilty about, but these people are on a different level.
Thank you thanks you for saying we’re all adults and we shouldn’t believe in ghosts. This is how I feel but I’m surrounded by people who are “spiritual but not religious “ 🙄
I mean, I'm an adult and I believe in ghosts. I have seen, heard and been touched by things that aren't there. All my "evidence" is anecdotal so I know it's not good enough for anyone else to believe. It's good enough for me. That said, what these "spiritualist" people do to people suffering from grief is horrendous and wicked. That poor woman. I can't imagine losing my husband to murder, losing three children and having the only surviving one lock me away in an insane asylum. Jesus, Mary and Joseph. My heart.
Double exposure was probably his method. Looking at the hands in the first photo, looks like his hand is through the chair in the first . The Mary Todd the obviously poor placement of the hands and fingers along with the fact they seem more defined than the face gives it away. I do not remember much from my high school photography class but I do remember some of the weird stuff we would create during exposure or deliberately fooling around with our cameras taking pictures.
Steve I read a lot of depressing shit. When you said about the civil war casualties, the first thing I thought was "oh, less than Stalingrad" Jesus bollocks, I'm a miserable bastard sometimes.
Now, I've never seen a ghost before, but one time I was in an elevator with someone and I heard and smelled a fart. The other guy immediately said "It wasn't me!" And I knew it wasn't me either, so it had to be someone...or something...
People have often asked me why I insist on proper skepticism and critical analysis of claims of the paranormal. "What hurt do those things create?" I always answer, in part, that their claimants prey upon not just the gullible, but the bereaved, the desperate and the terrified - the weak. I do not feel the need to defend the idea that the weak need defense from those who would take advantage of their state. Also, the involvement of Barnum is interesting - another example of a professional *but honest* (in a way) "I'll fool you, but you'll have a good time with my illusions and mysteries, knowing they are fake." - like Harry Houdini, James Randi and Penn/Teller.
I have always wondered... As someone who's never not been an atheist (and not believed in Ghosts, or Santa Claus, even as a kid), I often encountered the "but it gives me comfort / peace / hope / some other pleasant emotion" argument by my religious friends, and I could always only shrug. I find it hard to imagine how a lie would give me comfort, but then the only examples I could name from my personal experience are, for example, trying to keep believing that a relationship will work out, when deep down I knew it was already doomed, or other similar situations, where I would sooner or later be confronted with the truth. And in those cases, I usually learned that it would have been better, had I faced the truth earlier. The supposed comfort of the self-deception lead only to a worse outcome in the end. But religious self-deception (assuming for now that they are factually wrong) often have the "benefit" that they are never confronted with the truth. In this life we will never have to face up to any truth about "the next", and can blissfully continue to believe that something better is waiting for us - even if it isn't. And while we can make arguments about better putting more energy in building heaven this side of the grave, I could never to myself fully dispute this "comfort" that my religious friends claim for themselves. And while we can argue about intentional flimflammery by the churches, at least some of their staff do seem to be as genuine believers as you will find. Of course, Mummler (and all his cheating, lying contemporary kin) quite obviously was fully aware of his deceptions - but as Steve says, Mary Lincoln seems somewhat at peace in that picture. Did she buy genuine comfort with her money, albeit comfort built on a lie? But if she was never confronted with the truth, was this comfort not still, well, a real comfort, one she desperately needed and that she could not find in the harsh reality? Fake spiritualists and mediums often claim this - that even if they use tricks, and take money, they offer a valuable service: Comfort to the grieving. And as much as my gut feeling is revulsion at such callous exploitation, I have to wonder... are they right?
Dude, technology connections just did an episode on the history of daguerreotypes and early film photography. This somehow wound up being a great companion video haha
Since he needed photos of the deceased person or persons to create the "spirit photographs" I always wondered how he managed to fool people. Didn't they notice the similarity to existing portraits? If he actually asked for a photograph of the deceased, didn't the family wonder why? So many questions.
"Ghost hunting" is a lucrative cottage industry with many con-persons with dogs in the fight. MONEY. You'll get a lot of defenders defending it because they feel they have to or lose potential income.
To an extent even if the whole thing was a scam it might be given bereaved families some consolation to believe they had been photographed with their deceased relatives.
Not saying that I believe in ghosts persay but something quite similar to them might be real. If going by experience (and no I cannot prove it) there is at least a phenomenon that sometimes allows voices to appear out of thin air that two people can hear simultaneously and capture moments later on audio that wasn't audible as it was captured. I can sorta prove that, though I cannot prove that it's genuine and untampered with. I still try to be as skeptical as possible and avoid any classification of what it was, but it's much harder than you think to dismiss outright once you actually do encounter a compelling peice of evidence. It opens up a door that's not so easily closed, even so I'm still against religious interpretations of this phenomenon. I'm sticking to some as of yet unidentified scientific explanation... And yes I know it's anecdotal, but all the same it's not easily debunked either, not even hypothetically. It's just a RUclips comment so give me a break. I know I'm gonna get shit no matter what but it won't change anything either.
I absolutely despise Mediums. There aren't many other types of exploitation as reprehensible as twisting someone's grief into a way to take their money from them.
Try paying for a funeral. Talk about twisting grief to make money
Not all mediums exploit. To some, it’s almost a burden….
@@t-reidtrue307 I've been in the paranormal community over 20 years even co hosted one of the first internet radio shows and yeah all we talked was the paranormal. I've talked to three kinds of mediums in my life. Most of them are just nuts they think they talk to the dead but its in their heads. Then the next most common are the scammers using magic tricks to rip people off. The last that seem to have something are far less common.
Duh. That can’t have been a _real_ ghost…
If it was a real ghost, he’d have put a big red circle around it for the thumbnail image.
Mary Todd Lincoln's story is so sad. She buried almost all of her children. Her husband was murdered at her side. Her brothers were all confederates during the Civil War, and most of them died too. She lost so much, and this guy took advantage of that.
Well, as you said, at least he didn't die rich.
Fun fact: the rule of thirds actually exists to make sure there's plenty of room for ghosts in your photo.
Shhhhh, it's supposed to be a secret only people who taken courses in design can know 😉
What I really appreciate about this series is how you're able to tell the stories in ways that aren't completely one sided, but also aren't pretending "all sides are equal". The skill *is* impressive, but skillfulness does not have any moral weight.
Watched the technology connection video on old time photography yesterday, then this video today. Very Nice
Wow. The most impressive part of his story is that he was so loathsome as to motivate P.T. Barnum to denounce him.
That's a petty way to end the video and I'm 100% loving it.
Grifters and goons of history.
The twist is that if he had have tried to apply his obvious incredible talent in an honest direction, he could have become a modern household name.
When someone as loathsome as PT Barnum is debunking your work, you’ve done something wrong.
I'm just doing an exchange with a friend where we both make ghostly prints using multiple negatives to create one image in the darkroom. It's really cool to see some of the actual history here. And I have to say, it's not an easy thing to do!
I kept thinking there would eventually be a tie back to current con men but instead, got a very nice historical essay. This video has kind of a Knowing Better vibe without odd, time traveling characters executing the narration. Great work Steve.
Just echoing all the accolades from everyone else for this marvelous piece, so sharp and uncompromising. But I also wanted to add that I noticed right away that the length was 13:13, which is just *chef’s kiss* perfection!
Prosecution should have found other photography experts and had them create similar pics on demand and under court witness. This technique would not have been a secret one; many photographers would have known about double exposure.
Hell of a piece, Steve.
People that do this stuff, your “spirit mediums,” that claim to be able to contact a grieving persons dead loved ones are about the lowest form of humanity. We’ve all done things in life we regret and feel guilty about, but these people are on a different level.
Thank you thanks you for saying we’re all adults and we shouldn’t believe in ghosts. This is how I feel but I’m surrounded by people who are “spiritual but not religious “ 🙄
I mean, I'm an adult and I believe in ghosts. I have seen, heard and been touched by things that aren't there. All my "evidence" is anecdotal so I know it's not good enough for anyone else to believe. It's good enough for me.
That said, what these "spiritualist" people do to people suffering from grief is horrendous and wicked. That poor woman. I can't imagine losing my husband to murder, losing three children and having the only surviving one lock me away in an insane asylum. Jesus, Mary and Joseph. My heart.
Absolutely the best final sentence of a video I’ve watched in a long time.
Double exposure was probably his method. Looking at the hands in the first photo, looks like his hand is through the chair in the first . The Mary Todd the obviously poor placement of the hands and fingers along with the fact they seem more defined than the face gives it away. I do not remember much from my high school photography class but I do remember some of the weird stuff we would create during exposure or deliberately fooling around with our cameras taking pictures.
"...modest satisfaction of knowing that at least the M*F* didn't die rich." lol
Not why I subscribed to your videos but absolutely a reason to stay subscribed.
Everyone knows Spirit Photography requires a Spirit Camera given to you by Spirit Louis Le Prince.
tldw Steve Shives what the ghost all along
I can see dead people!
Steve I read a lot of depressing shit. When you said about the civil war casualties, the first thing I thought was "oh, less than Stalingrad" Jesus bollocks, I'm a miserable bastard sometimes.
Excellent!
The sucker born every minute being said by Barnum is a urban legend. He just proved it's truism.
Steve this is awesome! can you look into C. M. Eddy who worked for Houdini busting fake spiritualists as well!
Now, I've never seen a ghost before, but one time I was in an elevator with someone and I heard and smelled a fart. The other guy immediately said "It wasn't me!" And I knew it wasn't me either, so it had to be someone...or something...
Well put together story my friend.
People have often asked me why I insist on proper skepticism and critical analysis of claims of the paranormal. "What hurt do those things create?" I always answer, in part, that their claimants prey upon not just the gullible, but the bereaved, the desperate and the terrified - the weak. I do not feel the need to defend the idea that the weak need defense from those who would take advantage of their state. Also, the involvement of Barnum is interesting - another example of a professional *but honest* (in a way) "I'll fool you, but you'll have a good time with my illusions and mysteries, knowing they are fake." - like Harry Houdini, James Randi and Penn/Teller.
I have always wondered... As someone who's never not been an atheist (and not believed in Ghosts, or Santa Claus, even as a kid), I often encountered the "but it gives me comfort / peace / hope / some other pleasant emotion" argument by my religious friends, and I could always only shrug. I find it hard to imagine how a lie would give me comfort, but then the only examples I could name from my personal experience are, for example, trying to keep believing that a relationship will work out, when deep down I knew it was already doomed, or other similar situations, where I would sooner or later be confronted with the truth. And in those cases, I usually learned that it would have been better, had I faced the truth earlier. The supposed comfort of the self-deception lead only to a worse outcome in the end. But religious self-deception (assuming for now that they are factually wrong) often have the "benefit" that they are never confronted with the truth. In this life we will never have to face up to any truth about "the next", and can blissfully continue to believe that something better is waiting for us - even if it isn't. And while we can make arguments about better putting more energy in building heaven this side of the grave, I could never to myself fully dispute this "comfort" that my religious friends claim for themselves.
And while we can argue about intentional flimflammery by the churches, at least some of their staff do seem to be as genuine believers as you will find. Of course, Mummler (and all his cheating, lying contemporary kin) quite obviously was fully aware of his deceptions - but as Steve says, Mary Lincoln seems somewhat at peace in that picture. Did she buy genuine comfort with her money, albeit comfort built on a lie? But if she was never confronted with the truth, was this comfort not still, well, a real comfort, one she desperately needed and that she could not find in the harsh reality? Fake spiritualists and mediums often claim this - that even if they use tricks, and take money, they offer a valuable service: Comfort to the grieving. And as much as my gut feeling is revulsion at such callous exploitation, I have to wonder... are they right?
Dude, technology connections just did an episode on the history of daguerreotypes and early film photography. This somehow wound up being a great companion video haha
2:30 neat he managed to capture a picture of princess leia's ghost.
Perfect closing line to a great video. 👻
are you watching arte? because we just did a mini doc about that...
W0W! AWESOME!
You are awesome about information gathering
Mumler, doing his century's equivalent of "3am videos".
Since he needed photos of the deceased person or persons to create the "spirit photographs" I always wondered how he managed to fool people. Didn't they notice the similarity to existing portraits? If he actually asked for a photograph of the deceased, didn't the family wonder why? So many questions.
They were the lies they wanted to believe.
*chortle *
I love you so much, Steve
I don’t know for sure whether ghosts exist, but I’m still not going to risk it.
THis is a really interesting story and it's told really well.
I'm a ghost...and so's my hat.
Oh, a double exposure
"Ghost hunting" is a lucrative cottage industry with many con-persons with dogs in the fight.
MONEY.
You'll get a lot of defenders defending it because they feel they have to or lose potential income.
yes
10:17 He technically never said that.
To an extent even if the whole thing was a scam it might be given bereaved families some consolation to believe they had been photographed with their deceased relatives.
Not saying that I believe in ghosts persay but something quite similar to them might be real. If going by experience (and no I cannot prove it) there is at least a phenomenon that sometimes allows voices to appear out of thin air that two people can hear simultaneously and capture moments later on audio that wasn't audible as it was captured. I can sorta prove that, though I cannot prove that it's genuine and untampered with. I still try to be as skeptical as possible and avoid any classification of what it was, but it's much harder than you think to dismiss outright once you actually do encounter a compelling peice of evidence. It opens up a door that's not so easily closed, even so I'm still against religious interpretations of this phenomenon. I'm sticking to some as of yet unidentified scientific explanation... And yes I know it's anecdotal, but all the same it's not easily debunked either, not even hypothetically. It's just a RUclips comment so give me a break. I know I'm gonna get shit no matter what but it won't change anything either.