Phénomènes Inexpliqués

Phénomènes Inexpliqués –Magnetism, auras, levitating objects and other “paranormal” manifestations are examined here through the prism of the history of the visual arts and sciences. An unexpected encounter between disciplines that seem to oppose each other, that retraces a little-known part of the history of scientific utopias.

Rare, even unpublished, the images in this book examine the fascination of scientists with so-called “unexplained” phenomena, from the 1890s to the present day. Drawn from private and public collections, the documents – mostly photographic, but not exclusively – feature ectoplasms, collective spiritualist experiments, mediums in action, aura photographs, medical images and even attempts to capture “magnetic fluid”.

This unexpected corpus, assembled in a manner reminiscent of a photographic curiosity cabinet, is a unique testimony to the use of photographic techniques to study occult phenomena.