Cottingley Fairies One afternoon in July 1918, her cousin Elsie Wright and Frances Griffith, photographed fairies in their garden in the small village of Cottingley, Bradford (Yorkshire). The Britain of those years he took with some reluctance, the support of the distinguished writer and spiritualist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he ended up convincing the wider public ... These events are based films "Photographing Fairies" and "Fairytale." The story began: Once upon a time .... ... ... On a hot July afternoon, Elsie Wright borrowed his father migd camera plate, to take some pictures with her cousin Frances by the stream that was in the bottom of the garden. I wanted to send to a cousin and Mr. Arthur Wright, Elsie's father, lent it.
When Mr. Wright revealed the photographs found some strange white spots appeared to be focused in only the face of Frances. Elsie When asked why he thought it was, it said they were her friends the fairies. Arthur laughed cornered the occurrence and thinking that the spots could be leaves or papers blown by the wind.
After a few days, and in August, the camera returned to the hands of girls and again Mr. Wright surprised to find another white spot on the cliché. On this occasion, he saw Elsie with what looked like an elf. Convinced that the girls wanted to tease her, again forbidden to use the camera.
Over time, the story of the photographs of the fairies was forgotten, until one day, the following summer, Mrs. Polly Wright, very fond of occultism, attended a meeting of the Theosophical Society in Bradford, in the that, precisely, was debating the existence of fairies. Polly, then remembered the strange pictures of his daughter and niece, and to some attendees said that soon took interested in seeing them. Theosophy in Congress which was held shortly after, two of these fairy photographs were passed from hand to Edward Gardner, one of its most prominent members, considered it of vital importance and led to the press for publication.
At that time Gardner, who saw the Arthur Wright revealed poor quality, saw fit to make new negatives of the originals, and took the photographer Fred Barlow, to make them more copies clear and clean. It was then, indeed, there was talk of the Cottingley Fairies
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, father the famous fictional character, Sherlock Holmes, took an interest in taking photos and get them after he wrote an article in the Strand Magazine, discussing the issue of the faeries. The discussion had started in the streets.
At first, Sir Conan Doyle, was suspicious of the photographs and so were taught to Sir Oliver Lodge, a great authority on psychical research in Britain, who considered it a trick. For him, those figures were merely "dancers dressed as fairies. One of the arguments of researchers who had access to photos, and denying that might be true, was the extraordinary like having the hair of the supposed fairy Parisian fashions of the moment.
However, for those who considered authentic, the fact that the figures are moved, showing that the creatures were alive at the time you were shocked at the cliché. The photography business, Kodak said that the plates had been retouched by a clever forger, but Conan Doyle, who visited the Wright family, and there was no doubt they were true, according to the respectable and honest that he had like Messrs. Wright. Between supporters and detractors, the balance tipped in favor of the first and the proof of the existence of "spirits of nature ", was demonstrated with these photos.
But critics were still so many girls gave Gardner, in August 1921, some cameras, with their respective plates, with which to make new prints of fairies. Elsie and Frances were the Theosophist a full course of depth of field and exposure time, and basic game resumed. But what the girls did not know was that the plates had secret marks, which would prevent any trick or replacement. A few days later, Gardner received a letter from Mrs. Polly Wright, in which he said: "The weather was cloudy and misty all morning and could not take pictures until the afternoon when the fog dissipated and the sun rose. So I left and went to tea with my sister. When I was quite disappointed: only been able to photograph two fairies. "
The photographs were again published in the Strand Magazine, and reopened the controversy again. Many claimed that the photos could not be true because in them she saw the "little people" with a costume too stereotyped. Gardner, however, they replied saying that the fairy tale tradition and observed by the vision appeared always with the same clothes. "Surprisingly, they say, would that be different."
researcher for psychological issues, Sir Oliver Lodge, the matter was clear. On one occasion he said: "Without accusing anyone of fraud, the simplest hypothesis seems to be that imaginative girl, playing pretend and pretend, could innocently second fantasy figures created by her friends for her, if they had ability, and these figures probably were then photographed. "Lodge's reasoning did not seem very unwise. Over time, it became known that Elsie, was working on a photography studio, by that time, and just faking photos on request. But the passage of the years came to add new questions about the authenticity of the images.
In the years 1971-1976, the case of the Cottingley Fairies resurfaced almost the same intensity as it did at the time the photos were taken. In an interview with the BBC-TV, in 1971, Elsie, and an old woman, stated that the photographs were genuine, but she could not say about the Bible that the fairies were really there, but in the early eighties, the editor from The British Journal of Photography, Geoffrey Crawley, published an article which stated that Elsie and Frances had finally confessed to journalist Joe Cooper, who at least four of the photographs had been faked. Many proponents of the photos, said that this statement was due to the two women had been too much pressure on people for a long time, and that was the reason for the denial. Shortly after photos of Elsie and Frances, were made famous in the world, other photographs, also performed by girls, were added to them as a perfect sequel. Dorthy Inman was one of these girls
Nearly a hundred years after this episode of Cottingley, the issue of photographs of fairies still has its advocates and detractors. As in all the mysteries of this world, the evidence does not actually prove anything, and the objections of opponents are only opinions, and finally the question always comes down to what each of us choose to believe.