Photographer Christopher Schneberger’s new series Glimmer: The Haunting of the Graham House opens at Printworks Gallery this evening. While these photographs would be intriguing year round, Schneberger’s images are aptly haunting as we approach Halloween.
The featured image of the show, Glimmer, shows a blonde teenage girl comfortably dressed in pajama-like attire sitting on the bathroom counter casually painting her toenails red, in what appears to be her own middle to upper-middle class bathroom with shiny, dark granite counters, clean white sinks, and matching white window trim. After a long second, the viewer notices a ghastly female figure seen only inside the mirror, next to the blond girl’s own reflection. One assumes that the blonde teenager is unaware of the ghoulish figure, but she could also be familiar with the haunting presence. In stark contrast to the richness of the rest of the photograph, and to the youth of the pajama-clad teen, the ghoulish girl, has grey, dead-looking skin, her dark hair swept away from her face. She is wearing a ruffled, flower-print dress that is certainly outdated by at least a century.
This photograph has an interesting back story. Schneberger had done a lot of research on ghosts, and he has exhibited them in previous photographs, usually showing them existing in physical rooms and spaces. For this series, the Graham family (name changed for secrecy) approached Schneberger and told him that “our ghost lives in the mirrors”, not in visible spaces. Skeptical of ghosts, but interested in the Grahams’ story Schneberger asked if he could move into the Grahams’ house to further investigate andhopefully photograph the supposed ghoul. At first Schneberger didn’t see any girl, and thought his skepticism was correct. John, the dad, pleaded, “She doesn’t know you yet; sometimes I wish she didn’t know me.” After several visits Schneberger was ready to write this off as yet another hoax, until one evening when Sarah, the mom, called from the bathroom, “She’s here!” Schneberger ran to find a young woman in the mirror, as if she were standing next to Sarah.
Schneberger decided to move in after that, and the Grahams agreed. These series of photographs are from the two months the Graham family granted him full access to their Victorian home.
For further information on this photograph, please click here or visit the Printworks Gallery website.
Some of Schneberger's other photograph series include the following titles: Being Nowhere, Magic and Murder, A Case of Levitation, Croswell Twins, and Governess. If this Glimmer series doesn’t whet your ghoulish appetite, I’m not sure what will. Decide for yourself by visiting Printworks Gallery. The opening is tonight October 19, and the exhibition runs until November 24, 2012.
Glimmer Series, Christopher Schneberger
Glimmer Series, Christopher Schneberger
Glimmer Series, Christopher Schneberger
Subscribe