If I asked you to imagine aghost, a translucent and floating figure would likely appear in your mind. Why wouldn’t it — that is the ghost that we see in the media most often. And there’s a good and frankly interesting reason behind this.

Apparently, way back in the day, ghosts didn’t look like that — it began with the invention of cameras. What’s even more intriguing is that the current image is due to early camera limitations and the creativity of the human mind.

More info:TikTok

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Typically we imagine ghosts as translucent and floating beings, and there’s a good reason for that

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Image credits:jasonkpargin

An author and TikToker posted a video explaining the reason behind the current image of ghosts, and it got over 1 million views

The discussions about whether ghosts are real or not are seemingly never-ending. While there’s no scientificproofthat ghosts exist, some people still believe they do. In fact, ghosts are one of the most widely believed paranormal phenomena.

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Apparently, up to the 19th century, ghosts were imagined as solid beings that had the ability to suddenly appear or disappear

Or, as American actress and comedian Rachel Bloom said in hercomedy show“Death, Let Me Do My Special,” people believe and even hope to see ghosts because they want to know that the afterlife is something more than an unending void.Bored Panda’sinterviewee Dr.Susan Owenssaid something similar and added, “Many of us would be terrified of seeing a ghost — but we still want it to happen.”

Either way, it’s quite likely that those who claim to have seen ghosts saw them as floating, nearly invisible, translucent beings or something like that. You know, the traditionalimageof a ghost we see in various sources of media.

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Then, cameras were invented, which provided a way to “show” ghosts to people

Basically, the description of being translucent and floating came in the19th century. Up until then, they were described as solid people, who could disappear or suddenly appear in a room.

Then, cameras were invented, which gave people a chance to project a still image onto a screen. Soon after, the horror show called phantasmagoria started. J. Pargin described it as a projection ofscarythings on a lowered screen in a dark room.

Our interviewee added, “The projector could be pushed silently backwards and forwards to give the impression that the ‘ghosts’ were rushing closer or receding. This gave the spectral figures a gliding motion, which swiftly became a characteristic of the ghosts people claimed to see.”

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Image credits:cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)

Phantasmagoria, projections of scary things on a lowered screen in a dark room, had a huge influence in creating current ghost imagery

So, basically, due to the technical limitations of the time, ghosts were able to be portrayed only as floating and translucent. Susan Owens wrote in her aforementioned book that it was only after these shows that translucent ghosts becamepopularin stories.

Photography also influenced the image of the modern ghost. When it was invented, photo development used to take a long time, contrary to the seconds at most that it does now. So, if a person wanted their photo taken, they had to sit still for a very long time and if they moved before it was done, the camera would create a ghostly image. You can imagine how easy this made it for photographers to start selling “ghost images.”

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Image credits:Jonny Gios / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Early cameras did too–when people moved while they were photographed, a shadow, similar to a ghost, used to appear in the photo

Maybe in 500 years ghosts will still be floating and translucent beings, as Jason Pargin guesses, or perhaps they’ll evolve into something different.

After all, S. Owens said that ghosts are mirrors of the times: “They have always adapted themselves to each period, and there is no doubt that they will keep reinventing themselves in the future. Will they start tohauntthe internet? We’ll have to wait and see.” Well, we couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Image credits:Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures (not the actual photo)

Watch the video here

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

Guy Shares How Limitations Of Media Altered The Perception Of Ghosts Just Before The 19th Century

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