THE SCOLE ASSOCIATION
The Scole Experiment Afterlife Research Association (SEARA)
The Scole Experiment Afterlife Research Association (SEARA)
Associate Member:
SHANNON TAGGART
SHANNON TAGGART
Shannon Taggart is an artist and author based in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, whose work features content from The Scole Experiment.
In a past life, she contributed to printed publications including TIME, Newsweek, New York Times Magazine, Discover, New York, Wall Street Journal and Reader’s Digest.
Her work has been exhibited internationally and recognized by PDN, Nikon, Magnum Photos + Inge Morath Foundation, American Photography, International Photography Awards and the Alexia Foundation for World Peace.
Her first monograph, SÉANCE (Fulgur Press), was published in 2019.
Currently, she is working on an illustrated book about The Society for Research on Rapport and Telekinesis (SORRAT), one of the most exotic cases within the history of psychical research.
CONTACT: shannon@shannontaggart.com
In a past life, she contributed to printed publications including TIME, Newsweek, New York Times Magazine, Discover, New York, Wall Street Journal and Reader’s Digest.
Her work has been exhibited internationally and recognized by PDN, Nikon, Magnum Photos + Inge Morath Foundation, American Photography, International Photography Awards and the Alexia Foundation for World Peace.
Her first monograph, SÉANCE (Fulgur Press), was published in 2019.
Currently, she is working on an illustrated book about The Society for Research on Rapport and Telekinesis (SORRAT), one of the most exotic cases within the history of psychical research.
CONTACT: shannon@shannontaggart.com
Shannon Taggart books include:
Part Documentary, Part Ghost Story
‘One of the Best Photobooks of 2019’ — TIME
Photographs and Text by SHANNON TAGGART
Foreword by DAN AYKROYD
Illustrated Essays by ANDREAS FISCHER, J.F. MARTEL & TONY OURSLER
‘One of the Best Photobooks of 2019’ — TIME
Photographs and Text by SHANNON TAGGART
Foreword by DAN AYKROYD
Illustrated Essays by ANDREAS FISCHER, J.F. MARTEL & TONY OURSLER
Shannon Taggart (born 1975) became aware of Spiritualism as a teenager, when her cousin received a message from a medium that revealed details about her grandfather's death. In 2001, while working as a photographer, she began taking pictures where that message was received—Lily Dale, New York, home to the world's largest Spiritualist community—proceeding to other such communities as England’s Arthur Findlay College.
Taggart expected to spend one summer figuring out the tricks of the Spiritualist trade. Instead, Spiritualism’s mysterious processes, earnest practitioners, and neglected photographic history became an inspiration. Her project evolved into an eighteen-year journey that has taken her around the world in search of ‘ectoplasm’—the elusive substance that is said to be both spiritual and material.
With SÉANCE, Taggart offers haunting images exploring Spiritualist practices in the US, England and Europe: 150 of her original photographs, many of which have never been published, as well as rare historical photographs.
Supported with a commentary on her experiences, a foreword by Dan Aykroyd, creator of Ghostbusters (1984) and fourth-generation Spiritualist, and illustrated essays from curator Andreas Fischer and artist Tony Oursler, SÉANCE examines Spiritualism’s relationship with human celebrity, its connections to art, science, and technology, and its intrinsic bond with the medium of photography.
The book concludes with the debate over ectoplasm and how Spiritualism can move forward in the twenty-first century.
Taggart expected to spend one summer figuring out the tricks of the Spiritualist trade. Instead, Spiritualism’s mysterious processes, earnest practitioners, and neglected photographic history became an inspiration. Her project evolved into an eighteen-year journey that has taken her around the world in search of ‘ectoplasm’—the elusive substance that is said to be both spiritual and material.
With SÉANCE, Taggart offers haunting images exploring Spiritualist practices in the US, England and Europe: 150 of her original photographs, many of which have never been published, as well as rare historical photographs.
Supported with a commentary on her experiences, a foreword by Dan Aykroyd, creator of Ghostbusters (1984) and fourth-generation Spiritualist, and illustrated essays from curator Andreas Fischer and artist Tony Oursler, SÉANCE examines Spiritualism’s relationship with human celebrity, its connections to art, science, and technology, and its intrinsic bond with the medium of photography.
The book concludes with the debate over ectoplasm and how Spiritualism can move forward in the twenty-first century.
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