SEEING THINGS: Ghost Polaroids (Event Over)

Most of the photographs on display were taken before Photoshop, digital imaging and cell phone cameras changed photography. Each Polaroid is original and unique. They show familiar rooms with wispy, feathery tendrils and misty tufts of white substances and, amazingly, cloud-like writing. Even more extraordinary is the relevance of the words to whatever questions had been asked. The entity calls himself  Wright. He shows signs of erudition and intelligence, writing many of his messages in Latin. The ghost first appeared on film in early 1992 when several photos revealed a classic ghost-like shape, including dark shadows at the eyes and mouth. Then messages began to appear in the   film. The first was in response to a friend’s question about the spirit, “Is he here now?” The photo revealed a barely discernible “yes” in cloudy white shapes. After that, the writing became far more legible.

SeeingThings: Ghost Polaroids  explores the boundary between the known and the unknown. It asks whether something as simple and functional as photographs of record—people at a party, an empty ordinary room, an open door—can be a gateway to something more.   Perhaps, is the image of the room with the ghostly writing the way we see the ghost, or is it the way the ghost sees us?   Come explore these strangely surreal photographs and share your own speculations concerning how and what they mean.