If I asked you to imagine a ghost, a translucent and floating figure would likely appear in your mind. Why wouldn’t it — that is the ghost that we see in the media most often. And there’s a good and frankly interesting reason behind this. 

Apparently, way back in the day, ghosts didn’t look like that — it began with the invention of cameras. What’s even more intriguing is that the current image is due to early camera limitations and the creativity of the human mind. 

More info: TikTok

Typically we imagine ghosts as translucent and floating beings, and there’s a good reason for that

Image credits: jasonkpargin

An author and TikToker posted a video explaining the reason behind the current image of ghosts, and it got over 1 million views

The discussions about whether ghosts are real or not are seemingly never-ending. While there’s no scientific proof that ghosts exist, some people still believe they do. In fact, ghosts are one of the most widely believed paranormal phenomena. 

Here, in 2019, a poll found that 46% of Americans say they believe in ghosts. Another poll, conducted by the Pew Research Center back in 2015, found that 18% of Americans claim to have seen or been in the presence of one. 

The reasons why people claim to have seen or felt ghosts can be various. It can be explained by pareidolia – people seeing faces or other patterns in ambiguous images. It also can be just the brain playing tricks because a person feels scared. 

Image credits: jasonkpargin

Apparently, up to the 19th century, ghosts were imagined as solid beings that had the ability to suddenly appear or disappear

Or, as American actress and comedian Rachel Bloom said in her comedy show “Death, Let Me Do My Special,” people believe and even hope to see ghosts because they want to know that the afterlife is something more than an unending void. Bored Panda’s interviewee Dr. Susan Owens said something similar and added, “Many of us would be terrified of seeing a ghost — but we still want it to happen.” 

Either way, it’s quite likely that those who claim to have seen ghosts saw them as floating, nearly invisible, translucent beings or something like that. You know, the traditional image of a ghost we see in various sources of media. 

But do you know where this exact image came from? The author and TikToker Jason Pargin made a video explaining that. He based a lot of his research on the book called ‘The Ghost: A Cultural History’ written by Susan Owens, who we interviewed. 

Image credits: jasonkpargin

Then, cameras were invented, which provided a way to “show” ghosts to people

Basically, the description of being translucent and floating came in the 19th century. Up until then, they were described as solid people, who could disappear or suddenly appear in a room. 

Then, cameras were invented, which gave people a chance to project a still image onto a screen. Soon after, the horror show called phantasmagoria started. J. Pargin described it as a projection of scary things on a lowered screen in a dark room. 

Our interviewee added, “The projector could be pushed silently backwards and forwards to give the impression that the ‘ghosts’ were rushing closer or receding. This gave the spectral figures a gliding motion, which swiftly became a characteristic of the ghosts people claimed to see.” 

Image credits: cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)

Phantasmagoria, projections of scary things on a lowered screen in a dark room, had a huge influence in creating current ghost imagery

So, basically, due to the technical limitations of the time, ghosts were able to be portrayed only as floating and translucent. Susan Owens wrote in her aforementioned book that it was only after these shows that translucent ghosts became popular in stories.

As someone in the comments under the original video pointed out, it could also be the reason why most of the ghosts we imagine are usually from the Victorian era and we don’t see, for instance, Disco ghosts. 

Photography also influenced the image of the modern ghost. When it was invented, photo development used to take a long time, contrary to the seconds at most that it does now. So, if a person wanted their photo taken, they had to sit still for a very long time and if they moved before it was done, the camera would create a ghostly image. You can imagine how easy this made it for photographers to start selling “ghost images.” 

Image credits: Jonny Gios / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Early cameras did too – when people moved while they were photographed, a shadow, similar to a ghost, used to appear in the photo

The TikTok creator ended his video by saying that it’s cool to think that media using a limitation of technology completely altered the way we imagine ghosts. Still, even though their image is altered, they still remain, as Dr. Susan Owens put it, an “unfathomably mysterious” phenomenon that people are fascinated by. 

Maybe in 500 years ghosts will still be floating and translucent beings, as Jason Pargin guesses, or perhaps they’ll evolve into something different.

After all, S. Owens said that ghosts are mirrors of the times: “They have always adapted themselves to each period, and there is no doubt that they will keep reinventing themselves in the future. Will they start to haunt the internet? We’ll have to wait and see.” Well, we couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures (not the actual photo)

Watch the video here

@jasonkpargin♬ original sound – Jason Pargin, author

Early camera limitations altered the imagery of ghosts, making them not only translucent and floating but also, as someone in the comments pointed out, mostly from the Victorian era

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