Caught in the Snap: when photographers get framed

If you’ve played around with Murder in the Manor, you will know that it features eight rooms from Preston Manor. Other than the stories that bring them to life, the rooms are empty. But look around the Morning Room, and you may catch a glimpse of a mysterious figure reflected in a mirror.

Still from the Murder in the Manor website

Although Preston Manor has a reputation as a haunted house, and there has been at least one ‘ghost’ accidentally caught on camera, there is nothing supernatural about this image. The figure is Richard Sams of Say Digital, who conducted the panoramic photography that is used on the website. As the mirror was an unavoidable feature of the room, he has captured his own reflection while shooting. Moreover, if you explore the room further you can find a second image of Richard — look behind you when you enter the room.

Of course, Richard is not the first photographer to be caught by a mirror. In early 1915, Brighton photographer AH Fry suffered a similar problem while recording the Royal Pavilion’s use as an Indian Military Hospital during World War One.

Red Drawing Room of the Royal Pavilion Indian Military Hospital, 1915. (BH411228)

Fry wasn’t directly captured on this occasion, but if you look closely at the mirror on the far wall you can see two military figures  who were presumably accompanying the photographer.

Detail of BH411228

What’s striking about these small accidents is how they reveal the context in which a photograph was taken. Photographs often present themselves as objective windows on the world, but for any photograph to be made a whole series of personal decisions and actions needs to be taken. Understanding how a photograph came to be taken can often shift our appreciation of what it tells us.

Fry’s photograph of the Red Drawing Room is a good example of this. Taken as a whole it shows the benevolent care given by the British Empire to its wounded Indian troops: the luxurious decoration of the room, the neat sheets, and the white doctor on hand for his patients. But the reflection in the mirror reminds us that the photographer is accompanied by two military minders, and that this image is produced for strategic ends: principally to maintain Indian loyalty to the British cause.

But the best example we hold of a photographer caught by his own camera is this spirit photograph from 1886. Purporting to show a shrouded ghostly hand that has mysteriously appeared on a portrait of an elderly woman, close examination reveals the arm and neckline of the living person faking the scene. A copy of this photograph is presently on display in a small exhibition on spirit photography at Preston Manor, and I wrote a short piece about it back in 2010.

Spirit photograph, 1886 (HA900406)

As far as I’m aware, the Morning Room is the only area of Murder in the Manor in which Richard can be glimpsed. But if you spot the photographer or any anomalies elsewhere on the site, do let us know in the comments below.

Kevin Bacon, Digital Development Officer

Murder in the Manor is live!

Murder in the Manor, our online murder mystery written by eleven young Little Green Pig authors, is now live! You can find it at www.murderinthemanor.org.uk.

We hope you enjoy it. To learn more about how it was made, Brighton film maker Fat Sand made a short documentary about the project.

If Murder in the Manor leaves you with a taste to learn more about Preston Manor, do come and visit!

Kevin Bacon, Digital Development Officer

Making space for the Murder in the Manor

Work on Murder in the Manor is now in its final stages, and we are planning to launch the website next week. In the run up to launch we will be posting more details about the project, including a preview of the characters featured in our tale. But as we’re coming to the end of the technical development of the project, it’s a good time to talk about the work of the web developer, Say Digital.

Richard Sams, Say Digital, photographing in Preston Manor.

In my first post on Murder in the Manor, I mentioned that users of the website would be able to access the stories through a ‘recreation of Preston Manor that you can explore online’. How will we achieve this?

There are lots ways of simulating or creating space with digital technology, ranging from navigable text descriptions of places (think of early adventure games like Zork) to creating a visual environment based on three dimensional shapes (think Minecraft). The method used will depend on the resources available and the aspirations of the project. The focus of Murder in the Manor is to provide an atmospheric context for creative writing inspired by Preston Manor. As such, it does not require a geometrically accurate recreation of the building. What it requires is a means of capturing the ambience of Preston Manor and providing an impression of space; something that feels authentic, if not precise. The space we need to create is one that encourages exploration, but its focus is on active looking rather than simulated movement.

The solution provided by Say Digital is, in essence, very simple. It looks like this:

Stitched panorama of the South West room of Preston Manor

This image is made up of numerousl still photographs stitched together. Although it appears distorted, the image contains all the visual information necessary to provide a complete view of the South West Room of Preston Manor. When correctly interpreted by software, the user can move the photograph in such a way that it allows her to look up, down, left and right, and gives the sensation of being placed in the centre of the room. 360 degree panoramic photos of this type are becoming increasingly common, partly as technology improves, but also because touchscreen devices make this form of interaction much more attractive. Google’s Street View uses a similar technique, and the Guardian website features a nice example of the Royal Pavilion’s Great Kitchen.

Microsoft’s Photosynth and the Photo Sphere function available in some Android phones are making this form of photography much more accessible. But as is often the case with photography, to create really good results takes some technical skill. The panoramas used in Murder in the Manor were shot by Richard Sams of Say Digital using a camera with a fisheye lens. Fisheye lenses are ultra-wide angle lenses that are ideal for creating panoramic views but tend to distort heavily in the corners. To accommodate this, each room was progressively shot at thirty degree angles. When stitched together, these shots provide a smooth scrolling view with minimal distortion.

The results are looking very impressive so far, as is the rest of Say Digital’s work on the website. Naturally, I’m far from impartial, but you’ll be able to judge for yourself next week when Murder in the Manor goes live.

Kevin Bacon, Digital Development Officer