Before Photoshop, there were costumes and trick photography, and early artists made the most of both. io9 has put together a collection of trick or unusual photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the headless man above, a bald ghost, and a 3D rendering of the spirit of Christmas. The images come from Flickr sets, including the George Eastman House Collection, and most of them are a lot more intentionally funny than double-exposed “spirit photographs” made with some of the same techniques.
The headless man and other 19th-century trick photographs
A collection of trick and unusual photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
A collection of trick and unusual photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
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