Fotograf Magazine

Telepathy and clairvoyance are generally not regarded as something experienced on an everyday basis. Perhaps even less common are psycho-kinetic phenomena, among which can be ranked also mental photographs, for even here there is an influence exercised upon matter. It is a highly rare phenomenon, recorded as occurring in only a handful people around the world.

In 1961 in Chicago the eminent American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Jule Eisenbud (1908–1999), associate professor at Columbia University, and eventually professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado in Denver, first met Ted Serios, a common man possessed of astonishing powers. Apart from a predilection for alcohol, this out-of work bellhop was already aware for several years that when he focused his gaze into the camera lens, he was able to project his mental image upon the film. He could make the picture taken show a different image than would correspond to the actual camera angle. Though these pictures often turned out to be mere under-exposed blackies, or totally over-exposed whities, there were still a number of instances when there emerged a structure or image. In some cases these were rather successful, in most of the rest they were at least recognizable and identifiable. Most often black-and-white images were taken, but exceptionally also color ones.