Based on the scientific study of phenomena considered “paranormal,” metapsychics developed in the early twentieth century under the influence of physiologist Charles Richet. He was particularly interested in the phenomena of materialization involving a mysterious substance known as “ectoplasm,” which certain mediums claimed to produce during spiritualist séances.
In an effort to establish an independent field of research, Charles Richet took part in the creation of the Institut Métapsychique International in 1919. The institution soon became the focus of scientific debate and controversy, particularly in relation to researchers at the Sorbonne.
Among the figures at the center of these discussions, the medium Eva Carrière occupies a distinctive place. For nearly twenty years, she participated in experiments conducted by sculptor Juliette Alexandre-Bisson and, from 1909 onward, by German physician Albert von Schrenck-Notzing. Although her séances generated considerable debate, she was never officially caught in the act of fraud.
The anonymous photographs taken during these experiments reveal the importance of the image as a means of documentation and evidence in early twentieth-century metapsychical research.