Research source

They would be easy to control IF one were allowed to take the necessary precautions

Date of account: Published 1923
Source: The Case Against Spirit Photographs
Reference: The Case Against Spirit Photographs · selected passage 2
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

They would be easy to control _IF_ one were allowed to take the necessary precautions. But one is not, and under the conditions which actually prevail at photographic _séances_ the procedure lends itself to fraud more readily, and in more diverse ways, than any other form of mediumistic activity. Photography is a comparatively complicated process, and at every stage there is opportunity for the astute trickster to produce the effect he desires. Part of the proceedings, moreover, _must_ take place in a light which is inimical to accurate observation, and it should not be forgotten that, as a rule, the “sitter” is immobilised and placed _hors de combat_, so to speak, for an appreciable period while his photograph is being taken.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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