The Solved Mystery of the Hidden Mothers

The Solved Mystery of the Hidden Mothers 

These photos have inspired all kinds of nightmares and horror movies. What’s up with these creepy-looking human figures hiding behind toddlers, peeking behind curtains? Hooded ladies holding babies, others posing as sofas as if we couldn’t see their feet coming out of the blankets.

The Victorian era has always been considered a very creepy one when it comes to photography (post-mortem photos are only the most eloquent example). 

But at least this time, the explanation behind these weird looking photos is something that we can at least remotely relate to. Ever tried taking photos of babies or pets? It’s surely hard to make sure they stay put. Now that doesn’t seem to be an important issue, we can take as many photos as we want. But back in the Victorian era, photography was a privilege: having your portrait taken was indeed a big deal and often a once in a lifetime occasion. It was expensive to take one photo, let alone several, and it was technically harder to take a series of photos in a row due to camera exposure. 

Taking a photograph was a long, complex progress and you only had one shot. For this reason, toddlers and children couldn’t be left unattended in front of the camera as the smallest movement could have nullified all efforts of taking a decent photograph: mothers were asked to hold their children or stand next to them to make sure they could pose properly. 

However, they were still supposed to be photos of children and the mothers had to be hidden. Photographers used blankets and curtains to disguise the mothers as furniture. Of course, in most cases the final effect is everything but a success: we see hands coming from nowhere holding the babies, the silhouette of the mother’s head clearly showing despite the blankets, mothers who simply hide their faces behind the of course smaller face of their child, skirts and feet showing and, when there’s truly no effort, a piece of cloth on the face and the whole body showing like we’re just gonna pretend there isn’t a whole lady in the photo. 

It is all quite hilarious: they edited women's bodies in unrealistic ways but couldn't make these photos less creepy 

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