| eding Edge Premiere Column: The Art of Stealing | | | | spell. For this reason, there are some practitioners |
| Souls | | | | of Voodoo who are cautious of photographs, as |
| (by Columnist: William Bobos) | | | | they are powerful items capable of harm. |
| The religious belief that a photograph can steal a | | | | James W. Bailey is an experimental artist, |
| soul, imprisoning it within its amalgam of polyester, | | | | photographer and imagist writer from Mississippi. |
| celluloid, salts and gelatin (or perhaps a CCD if you | | | | His exhibition Stealing Dead Souls appeared |
| are into digital photography) is still shared by | | | | at the Black Rock Center for the Arts in |
| many cultures across the globe. From Native | | | | Germantown, Maryland in January and February |
| Americans to the Aborigines of Australia, there | | | | of 2005. He was kind enough to share the images |
| are those who refuse to be photographed. | | | | shown here and explain his religious belief in why |
| This belief evolved in different ways for many | | | | photographs have the power to damage the soul. |
| cultures, occasionally revolving around the beliefs | | | | I hold a religious belief, probably inherited from |
| in the power of mirrors. In folklore, mirrors have | | | | my paternal Mississippi grandmother, who was 1/4 |
| the power to steal souls. The superstition of | | | | Choctaw Indian, and who was extremely |
| breaking a mirror and causing bad luck stems | | | | distrustful of photography, that photography, |
| from the belief that a mirror contains the soul and | | | | more than any other art form, has the ability to |
| breaking it causes damage to the soul. In ancient | | | | capture a living element of life, a flashpoint of the |
| times, the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and many | | | | soul if you will. |
| other cultures used reflective surfaces, such as | | | | Of course, most recognize that the process |
| mirrors to practice scrying - the ability to predict | | | | of photographing a moment in time captures |
| the future. | | | | something in a fixated way that would normally |
| Mirrors were considered a major part of the | | | | be lost to history. I also believe that photographic |
| Mayan religion and culture. Mirrors opened portals | | | | images capture an aspect of that lived moment, a |
| into the Otherworld, allowing ancestors and gods | | | | reflection of reality if you will, and that the |
| to pass through between the two planes. They | | | | photograph literally captures an element of the life |
| believed when praying to a saint, the soul leaves | | | | force that presented itself in that moment that |
| the body. To help the soul find its way back into | | | | was captured. |
| the body, mirrors are placed in front of saint | | | | When this living element is captured, it has the |
| statues to reflect back the soul. | | | | capability of re-generating itself in much the same |
| In Chiapas, Mexico, there are towns which still | | | | way that certain life forms can lose a limb and |
| adhere to the old Mayan ways. In San Juan | | | | regenerate it. |
| Chamula it is illegal to take photographs in church. | | | | Photographs, in my opinion, literally steal a |
| If you are caught using a camera in church - jail | | | | portion of life and can regenerate an aspect of |
| time is a distinct possibility. Older generation film | | | | that stolen fragment of life through the presented |
| cameras and todays SLR and digital SLR cameras | | | | photograph itself. |
| still use mirrors. The Mayan beliefs led to | | | | The process of stealing an element of life |
| photography being banned inside of churches. | | | | through a photograph does cause, in my spiritual |
| Most of the people today allow their photograph | | | | opinion, a degree of damage in the life force |
| to be taken, however infants are protected. It is | | | | photographed. The life force may not know it, in |
| still believed the souls of infants are fragile and are | | | | the case of surreptitious street photographs |
| susceptible to leaving the body. Photographing an | | | | made of people who are unaware they are being |
| infant could harm the soul, preventing its return to | | | | photographed, or the life force may fully consent |
| the body. The soul is believed to be composed of | | | | to it in an emotionally suicidal way, such as may |
| thirteen parts, photography damages or even | | | | be the case with an under-age homeless |
| removes some of these components. A shaman | | | | drug-addicted girl who might consent to |
| was necessary to restore a person’s soul. | | | | being illegally photographed as part of a child |
| Some Native Americans still refuse to be | | | | pornography publication in order to earn some |
| photographed. One of the most famous Native | | | | money to feed her habit. |
| Americans in history, Crazy Horse was never | | | | Let me be clear in what I saying: I spiritually |
| photographed while alive. He never allowed his | | | | believe that the photograph of the homeless |
| photograph to be taken, even while on his | | | | person and the abused child taken with or without |
| deathbed. Some Navajo Native Americans | | | | their consent captures a particle of their living |
| practice a religious ceremony, known as a | | | | essence. The photographs taken of them steal an |
| sing to recover a soul. Others embrace | | | | element of their souls. The theft of the pieces of |
| photography. | | | | their souls harm them to a degree. |
| In her book, "Taken Pictures: On Interpreting | | | | When such photographic images are taken, |
| Native American Photographs of the Southern | | | | the only thing the photographer can do to make |
| Northwest Coast." Carolyn J. Marr describes the | | | | the universe right with what he or she has done |
| change in Native Americans' attitudes towards | | | | is to place the photograph, which I believe to be a |
| photography from the late 19th to the early 20th | | | | living organism, into a context of positive |
| century. The negative attitude toward | | | | growth. |
| photography evolved to a positive one, in which | | | | The great photographers, whether they know |
| photographs were integrated into religious | | | | it or not, are photographers who have taken |
| ceremonies. | | | | stolen elements of life and have placed those |
| Practitioners of Voodoo believe in sympathetic | | | | living substances into a context where the |
| magic. Sympathetic magic principles state a | | | | photographically captured life force has been |
| powerful link exists between entities that are | | | | encouraged toward positive growth. |
| similar in appearance or come into contact with | | | | Ultimately whether one believes in the ability of |
| each other. Items such as photographs, nail | | | | photography to capture souls or not, respecting |
| clippings, hair and other objects may be used to | | | | the beliefs and culture of the photographic subject |
| create an image of another person. This | | | | should be paramount to any photographer. |
| image may be used to cast a curse or | | | | |