Spirit Photography at Flickr Commons

I've been on Flickr for a few years now (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dawnanthony), and being the vintage-obsessed geek and history buff that I am, I was fascinated when Flick introduced The Commons, which aims to be the central repository for the world's public photography archives.

I have spent hours looking at things like medical illustrations from the 1800s, past presidential inauguration pictures, nature photos, etc, but one set has really caught my interest: Spirit Photography.

First used by William Mumler in the 1860s, Spirit Photography is a type of photography whose primary attempt is to capture images of spiritual entities. Mumler is the guy who took the famous picture of Mary Todd Lincoln with the ghost of her husband Abraham.

The National Media Museum has put up a bunch of spirit photographs in the Flickr Commons, and I can't stop looking through them. Take a gander if you've got a minute, it's an incredibly interesting look at one of the first photo faking scams.

And when you're finished, come on over to The Collector Detector and buy an old vintage camera and make your own spirit photos!