Hippolyte Ferdinand Baraduc (Hyères, Var, France, November 15, 1850 – Paris, France, May 1, 1909) was a French physician and parapsychologist, highly known for his depiction of thoughts and feelings using iconography.
Mesmerism
editIn his research, Hippolyte Baraduc ended up delving into topics on animal magnetism following the studies of Hans Reichenbach, mentioning in his 1895 thesis the difference between fluids: cosmic, vital and magnetic,[1] all cataloged and examined in his works.[2]
Fluidic photography
editBaraduc believed it was possible to photograph human mental states or emotions, such as grief and mourning, as well as the human soul. In his 1896 book The Human Soul (L’Âme humaine), Baraduc published photographs referred to as "psychicones", or images of the soul, that he claimed were created by a "psycho-odic-fluidic-current" interacting with the photographic plates.[3] Baraduc claims to have photographed the human soul were also made in a paper read before the Society of Psychic Sciences in Paris.
Baraduc's fluidic photography included fastening a live pigeon to a board with a photographic plate strapped to its chest and cutting the pigeon’s throat, with the photographic plate showing a "picture of its death agony taking the form of curling eddies". He placed a photographic plate on the body of a man in a totally dark room which “received an impression from the vital forces three hours after death".[4]
Bibliography
edit- Georges Didi-Huberman, Jean-Martin Charcot, Invention de l'hystérie : Charcot et l'iconographie photographique de la Salpêtrière, Editions Macula; Édition : 5e (2012), Coll. Macula scènes
- Marina Warner Phantasmagoria: Spirit Visions, 2008 ISBN 0199239231
References
edit- ^ Hippolyte Baraduc (1895). Différence grafique des fluides électrique, vital, psychique. [S.l.]: (edition français). pp. 78 – 80 – 96
- ^ John C. Pierrakos. Energética da Essência. [S.l.]: pensamento. p. 46. ISBN 978-85-315-0771-7
- ^ Pethes, Nicholas (July 2016). "Psychicones: Visual Traces of the Soul in Late Nineteenth-Century Fluidic Photography". Medical History. 60 (3): 325–341. doi:10.1017/mdh.2016.26. PMC 4904334. PMID 27292323.
- ^ "Souls on a Plate: The Camera Fiend and Spirit Photography". United Nations of Photography. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2024.