Episode 113: Framing the Invisible, with Shannon Taggart

Weird Studies

Shannon Taggart's book Seance is a landmark in art photography and the history of psychical research. Taggart spent years photographing practitioners of spiritualism in the U.S. and Europe in an effort to capture the mysteries of mediumship, ectoplasm, and spirit photography. In this episode, she joins JF and Phil for a conversation on the often-misunderstood tradition of spiritualism, the investigation of the paranormal, and the real magic of photography. If the technological medium is the message, then perhaps the spiritual medium is the messenger.

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**REFERENCES

*Shannon Taggart, Séance *
Read the introduction to the book here
Visual companion page for this episode

Shannon and her work are featured in Peter Bebergal's excellent book, Strange Frequencies: The Extraordinary Story of the Technological Quest for the Supernatural

Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell
Lionel Snell, “The Charlatan and the Magus”
George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal
Diane Arbus, American photographer
Warner Herzog (dir.), Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Jeffrey Mishlove, Interview with James Tunney on Francis Bacon
Eva C, French medium
Andrew Jackson Davis, American spiritualist
Henry Alcott, American Theosophist

For further reading on women, spiritualism, and the art of the invisible:
Ann Braude, Radical Spirits
Guggenheim, Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future

Special Guest: Shannon Taggart.