Before the Photoshop: Here Are 20 Creepy Headless Portraits From the Victorian Era

The 19th century is generally remembered as a time of science and technology when the ideas of Charles Darwin and the telegraph of Samuel Morse changed the world forever. However, there was a lighter side of the Victorian era. A number of Victorian photographers combined images from more than one negative to create illusions or novelty portraits. “Headless Photographs” featured men and women with “their heads floating in the air or in their laps”.

Victorian headless photographs

Victorian headless photographs

Victorian headless photographs

Victorian headless photographs

Victorian headless photographs

Victorian headless photographs

Victorian headless photographs

Victorian headless photographs

Victorian headless photographs

Victorian headless photographs