Paranormal Activity.

Nowadays, it is easy to manipulate an image to create some special effect or desired alteration. Photoshop is an incredibly popular program, "Auto-enhance" is the default for all photos, and fashion images are cropped, lengthened and shined to produce god-like beauty. However, manipulation can also be used to create atmosphere, play with your beliefs and to shock. Freud talked about the "uncanny" where something familiar can concurrently appear foreign, resulting in a general feeling of being unsettled and wary. This paradoxical sentiment can be used to great effect with photography and art. 

The photograph above was taken in 1936 by two photographers assigned to photograph Raynham Hall, a country house in Norfolk, for Country Life magazine. The spectral figure descending the stairs is said to be that of Lady Dorothy Tonshend. It was rumoured that Dorothy had been unfaithful to her husband Charles Townshend, Second Viscount of Raynham, who had consequently created a sham funeral for her and had her locked away in an isolated area of the house until her actual death many years later.

Do I believe in this? Being a firm materialist and (amateur) scientist - no. It is an inbuilt facet of human nature to believe things that present resounding evidence. For example, superstitions often arise from sheer coincidence, like mirrors breaking coinciding with a swathe of bad luck. It is logical to think like this - if it seems cogent, it is believable. Everything must have an explanation, 

By Charlotte Bassat, Illustrator

Images that evoke the paranormal are captivating, and this is where the real art of creating haunting photography lies. The photograph must be left a half-painted canvas, forcing the viewer's mind to fill the ambiguous space and create the tension and enigma themselves.

I stumbled across the work of photographer Ellen Rogers and was thoroughly impressed by her capacity to create beautiful imagery which plays with notions of the paranormal and supernatural. Ellen Rogers' photography is haunting and archaic, often exploring the line between dreams and reality, normal and paranormal. Ellen also doesn't believe in computer-based photographic manipulation, which is a refreshing tone for a fashion photographer. As you will see from the images below, an image that has elements of Freud's uncanny has a charming way of holding attention.

http://www.ellenrogers.co.uk/