"Shutter," an upcoming movie being released by 20th Century Fox, will feature as its premise spirit photography. Spirit photography became popular during the mid-19th century with the introduction of film cameras and the rise of Spiritualism, a movement where practitioners attempted to speak with the dead. This theme remains popular in lots of magic and mentalism.

The Spiritualism era is well known for its seances and mediums who in various ways supposedly communicated with the deceased. Perhaps its best known proponent was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories. And perhaps its best known critic was Harry Houdini, who constantly exposed spiritual frauds as he himself attempted to reach his deceased mother.

In spirit photography, deceased people mysteriously appear in photographs. At the time the pictures are taken, supposedly, there’s no evidence of the spirit. Many famous photographs appear to show spirits who reside in locations, usually homes. In other photos, spirits are shown to be looming around living people. Perhaps best known is a portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln who is seemingly sitting under the spirit of Abraham Lincoln.

Critics have long lambasted spirit photographs as proving nothing and cite double-exposures, doctored negatives and darkroom techniques as viable explanations. Some well known photographers of the Spiritualism era were proven to be fakes. Today, there's nothing like a little assistance from PhotoShop, as in the picture of your guide that appears with this story. Seeing is clearly not believing.

Spirit photography still lives on in magic tricks. In the last few decades, there was a famous effect that relied on a Polaroid camera to somehow predict the future. We recently reviewed "Ghost Vision," an effect by Andrew Mayne, which allows a magician to make a ghostly image seemingly appear on the screen of a cellphone camera (please click here to read our review).

In "Shutter," which stars Rachael Taylor and Joshua Jackson and is directed by Masayuki Ochiai, the ghostly appearances occur in photos as a newlywed couple visit Japan. According to the film's web site, ghosts and spirits show up in photos for many reasons including hate for the person having their photo taken, expressions of distress, hate, jealousy and more.

"Shutter," from the executive producers of "The Grudge" and "The Ring," will appear in theaters on March 21, 2008.

More Reading:
Profile: Harry Houdini
Review: Ghost Vision
DVD Review: Incredible Dancing Paper Napkin