Static emergence marks the culmination of a period of research investigating historic photographic documentation of psychic occurrences reputed to have been made visible due to new and emerging new optical technologies.

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  During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries spiritualists and mediums such as Frederick Hudson, Williams H Mumler and Ted Serious made claims that  “spirits” could directly affect photographic imagery. Debates as to the veracity of these images were rampant, not just amongst spiritualists and mediums, but also within academic and scientific circles as well as the popular press.

  ​Static emergence pays homage to​ the techniques that lay behind the production of images produced within the spirit photography genre. Images which, for the main part, clearly take advantage of long exposure times, the overlaying of photographic plates, altered negatives and chance disruptions.



 Despite a widespread understanding of the common "tricks" involved within spirit photography, these works still command significant interest within contemporary audiences. Although we know how these images are produced (that they are not real) they



  The "spirit" caught within the video screen in Static emergence employs techniques which are equally obvious to contemporary audiences, who are well versed in computer generated imagery, overlays, time delays commonly used on the editing process.