Thought Photography

[annemathematics]

During the year 1896 considerable stir was created by the investigation of Dr. Hippolyte Baraduc, of Paris, in the line of “Thought Photography,” which is of interest to psychic investigators generally. Dr. Baraduc claimed to have gotten photographic impressions of his thoughts, “made without sunlight or electricity or contact of any material kind.” These impressions he declared to be subjective, being his own personal vibrations, the result of a force emanating from the human personality, supra-mechanical, or spiritual. The experiments were carried on in a dark room, and according to his statement were highly successful. In a communication to an American correspondent, printed in the New York Herald, January 3, 1897, he writes: “I have discovered a human, invisible light, differing altogether from the cathode rays discovered by Prof. Roentgen.” Dr. Baraduc advanced the theory that our souls must be considered as centers of luminous forces, owing their existence partly to the attraction and partly to the repulsion of special and potent forces bred of the invisible cosmos.

 

A number of French scientific journals took up the matter, and discussed “Thought Photography” at length, publishing numerous reproductions of the physician’s photographs; but the more conservative journals of England, Germany and America remained silent on the subject, as it seemed to be on the borderland [Pg 199]between science and charlatanry. On January 11, 1897, the American newspapers contained an item to the effect that Drs. S. Millington Miller and Carleton Simon, of New York City, the former a specialist in brain physiology, and the latter an expert hypnotist, had succeeded in obtaining successful thought photographs on dry plates from two hypnotized subjects. When the subjects were not hypnotized, the physicians reported no results.

As “Thought Photography” is without the pale of known physical laws, stronger evidence is needed to support the claims made for it than that which has been adduced by the French and American investigators. “Thought Photography” once established as a scientific fact, we shall have, perhaps, an explanation of genuine spirit photographs, if such there be.

– Hours With the Ghosts; Or XIX Century Witchcraft by Henry R. Evans

 

Mercury-limned lavender, palo santo, and ambrette seed.

 

First impressions from a bottle that landed this morning:

 

I know some people associate lavender with sleep scents, old lady smells and/or medicine, and kudos for all of those things, but thought photography is a blend that shows her potential as a sophisticated note in an elegant perfume.  

 

Beautiful strong musky lavender, reminding me of bpal's 18 June 1860. Not getting much Palo Santo at this time. Big throw and great longevity.  

[zankoku_zen]

Sophisticated lavender, whiffs of palo santo. This is lavender as a proper perfume, and not a sleep blend. It's gorgeous and the palo santo peeking on the drydown really makes this a perfume as opposed to a comforting sleep blend. I am really enjoying this and would consider purchasing a partial/bottle of this. In fact, I may add this on to my next Lab order.

[doomsday_disco]

I agree with the previous reviews: this is a sophisticated lavender perfume, not a sleep scent. The lavender is the star here, and at first, I thought it might have a tinge of a metallic note, but nothing overly sharp or cologne-like, and that aspect was short-lived. It's a lovely (not herbal) lavender accompanied by musky ambrette seed, with the palo santo becoming more noticeable after several hours of wear, but never overtaking or becoming as strong as the other notes.

 

If you're fond of the lavender in scents like The Air and the Ether and Lavender Lace, you'll probably enjoy the lavender in this as well.

 

I am a huge fan of lavender and will certainly enjoy my bottle, but just the one bottle will suffice.

 

If I had to choose between this and The Air and the Ether from An Evening with the Spirits, I would choose The Air and the Ether hands down (but I am a bigger fan of amber and ambergris than ambrette seed and palo santo). That said, I do think this is a classy, soft lavender perfume, and I am curious to see if the palo santo note will come out more with age.

Edited July 13, 2021 by doomsday_disco

[Teaotter]

Floral lavender perfume. The lavender and palo santo work together to make it a gorgeous musky floral.

 

Good throw and longevity.  I was personally hoping it would be more like 18 June 1860 than it is -- on my skin, at least, that one has an airiness where this one is musky from the ambrette seed. Fairly similar, but not identical scents.

[Casablanca]

I love Thought Photography.

 

It reminds me of the element air. I feel like I'm sampling Elemental Air distilled into a refined essence. For a fleeting moment when I first applied this, I thought I sensed a cool, ethereal metallic sheen to it, but it was quickly gone. A mercurial presence.

 

Otherwise, I find lots of airy lavender and palo santo -- even a slight lemony edge from the latter. I think the ambrette is contributing to the blend's sense of refinement, though it isn't overt to me. It feels like a light musk veneer.

 

This needs to become a bottle.

[SophieCedar]

Another bpaler thoroughly happy with Thought Photography, here.

 Starts out smelling like commercial perfume, but changes into quite a unique sweet airy blend that smells like....mint tea? Really. There's something in the notes cascade that smells like sweet mint tea. Maybe its the mercury suggestion. Its true, this is airy, ethereal and refined.

 

End of drydown, it settles into an even balance of all 3 notes and is sparkling, golden, refined lavender perfume loveliness. Don't expect the palo santo to scream. Its accompanied by 2 notes of equal strength. Its how I wanted my aunts to smell, but they couldn't think outside the Oil of Olay box.

[skyelyric]

This is really quite lovely.  When I first put it on I get the lavender, but it fades on me (and I don't know what palo santo should smell like), but I'm left with that elegant classic perfume kind of scent.   Strangely it reminds me a fair bit of Seated Couple from the Lupers a couple years ago.

[torischroeder9]

Super happy to receive a frimp of this with a recent eBay bottle purchase. I love the concept and inspiration for this scent. 

 

In the decant: Sharp, thin lavender. I don't know what mercury smells like, if it even smells, but I would believe this is mercury and lavender. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, the metallic note I got in the decant doesn't really materialize. This is lavender and soft musk. As it dries, I have two thoughts: One, this smells like lavender soap on me. Two, I buy really nice lavender soap. It's a delicate lavender, and the musk is still present, but at the moment, it's trending decidedly soapy on me. 

[tinyvulture]

An elegant lavender that feels aged, vintage. I'm not getting any palo santo, sadly. Single note refined lavender is what I'm calling this one.

[Lucchesa]

Thought Photography on me, as with so many lavender BPALs, went on with a big blast of lavender, this one with a slightly metallic patina. I was hoping something interesting would develop with the palo santo and ambrette, but unfortunately, my skin ate Thought Photography right up.  Not only the lavender but the whole thing was gone within about 90 minutes.  I'm delighted I got to try it but will pass this decant on.  

[bellumed]

This crone performs her rituals on metal countertops scrubbed with militant vigor. Musky, smoky lavender and citrus. Soothing without being soft.  Unisex. On my skin it develops a nutty, green wood overtone that I, unfortunately, like less than the imp scent. Then it shifts to something like... metallic marshmallow?? Surprisingly sweet.

 

It's hard to pin down my thoughts about this one! A lot of morphing from this oil-- an interesting scent that's worth a test, IMHO.