Photograph by
F.M.Parkes
and his assistant Mr. Reeves
An ordinary person from the street with a Spirit form, 1872-75
F.M. Parkes was a self taught photographer who used his Mediumistic powers linking with the Spirit World to gain more knowledge of the art of photographing the Spirit extras. With the help of the Spirit World he started earning a living by this method in 1872 onwards. Seeing he needed someone to help him whist in an altered state, and with his shop work, he asked Mr. Reeves the owner of the dining rooms near to his shop in Kings Cross London. Most of his Spirit Extras were placed onto the photographic plates by the Spirit World when they both worked together.
When conditions were at their best they even produced fully formed Spirit Forms and very distinct faces of the loved ones of the sitters. This is what was happening with the other photographers of the day with the likes of Frederick Hudson and William Mumler.
Over the years the pair whilst they were testing out all their many ways of going about their craft had unusual images on their plates, like flashes of light, and cloudy images, or a white smearing on their photographic plates, some of the many times meaning different things to the sitters.
The Reverend William Stainton Moses was convinced Parkes photographs were genuine, because not only did he use his own place of work, but also many were taken when away from his photographic studios, and the plates were swapped without him knowing and the phenomena still happened.
Sitting around a small table are John Beattie and Eugene Rochas in a seance, Bristol. UK. in 1872
