The Cottingley Fairies Photographs

Record summary

Teenagers Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths produced photographs at Cottingley that appeared to show fairies, attracting Arthur Conan Doyle’s support and broad public interest. The images became a major episode in debates about spiritualism, photographic evidence, childhood testimony, and wishful interpretation. Both women later acknowledged that the figures were constructed, although Frances maintained that one image represented something more ambiguous. The case is valuable as a controlled example of belief persistence and evidential overreach, but the exact development and handling of each plate should be checked.