[Vision2020] The Shroud of Hype

[Joan Opyr]

Hi Kai,

Thanks for the photography clarifications.  Do you need a convex lens for a camera obscura, though?  The image on the shroud is not especially clear; it's the image on negatives of pictures of the shroud that are clear.  And would it not be possible to fix a dead body in such a way that it didn't sway?  I hate to be gross, but one needn't suspend a body from a rope -- one could, well, nail it in place.  (Man, I hate saying this so close to Easter.  I'll be accused of being anti-Christian again.)

Anyhow, the Forbes piece isn't the only critique of Nate's methodology.  Photographers 'round the country have been talking about the long history of sun prints, and etc., for the past week.  Oh, and you might want to take a look at some of the Shroud/Camera Obscura websites regarding method  They account for the washing of the shroud post image-burning and the fixative issue.  Not that I have a horse in this race because I don't.  I also like the "it's a real but stolen burial shroud" theory.  Why?  Because that would be REALLY gross and thus quite in keeping with the habits and proclivities of those who actually dealt in the medieval relics trade  The toe-bones of saints?  And vials of blood?  Where do you think they got those?  Uh-huh.  No corpse was safe from their predations.

All the best,
Joan/Auntie  

PS: I will be playing some REM on the radio show this weekend.  I hope that will satisfy your debased musical tastes.
----- Original Message -----
From: Kai Eiselein
Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 8:44 AM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] The Shroud of Hype

Well, I stand corrected on the possibility that bleaching could have been
the method, Joan. My apology.

However, the theory that a camera obscura could have been used to make the
image has several flaws.
1: A solution of silver nitrate would soak clear through the cloth, and
would be identifiable by testing, as would a fixing solution. The images on
the cloth, according to the Forbes article, can be removed with adhesive
tape. The image would go deeper than the surface.
2: If, at the time the shroud was made, there was no distortion free glass,
I highly doubt that a decent convex lens could have been made to gain
reasonable sharpness of the image. The photos of the shroud that I've seen
show it to be reasonably so.
3: The movement from a hanging corpse would blur the image, as would the
slightest draft of air on the shroud itself. The exposure time would have
been incredibly long, too long to keep from blurring.
4: A rope to hang the corpse would have shown at least as a shadow on the
shroud.
5: The image would show degradation for a couple of reasons. First, I doubt
there would have been a fixing agent that would last long enough in that day
and age. Second, I doubt people would have understood how to archive it so
that it wouldn't have faded. There are images with us today that have
survived 100 years or so, but the archiving was much better. I have B/W
images that are half that age that show degradation due to improper fixing,
mishandling and improper archiving. To expect an image to last for several
times that long is a stretch, I think.
Just as an aside, I've been involved with photography nearly my entire life.
Both of my grandfathers were lithographers, so I spent many happy hours
messing around in a darkroom. I've been shooting professionaly since I was
about 15 or 16 years old, and I shoot thousands of images a year.
I'm currently archiving my families photos, some of which date to the Civil
War. My camera collection dates back to the early 1900s.
OK, I'm done puffing out my chest now. I just love photography and can talk
about it endlessly.





Kai T. Eiselein
Editor
Latah Eagle
521 S. Jackson St.
Moscow, ID 83843
(208) 882-0666 Fax (208) 882-0130
editor at lataheagle.com


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