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"Haunted Places"
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Most of us wouldn’t be caught dead wandering through haunted houses alone, but Brooklyn based photographer Corinne Botz did just this, and did it all across the country. She was 
seeking out and photographing reportedly haunted houses across the United States as one of several intriguing artistic explorations. Inspired by the ghost stories – often centered around infidelity and murder – told by female Victorian authors, Corinne’s work not only captures the spooky, but also explores “the home and its associated history of domesticity, gender and sexuality.”
While the photos themselves evoke a chilling spookiness, Corinne claims that when photographing in these familiar looking family homes, "there was nothing inherently frightening about them." Her scariest moments involved "being alone and lost some place at night, or trespassing at an abandoned site." For Corinne ghosts exist simply "because so many people believe in ghosts and tell ghost stories."
When I asked her to describe her scariest encounter, she told of a strange incident that happened in Ohio, when her and a friend were attempting to photograph a haunted structure late at night in the woods of a park. Corinne said, "We stopped to ask directions at a gas station. Once we arrived at the site my friend became terrified and felt there was a spirit there, plus my camera mysteriously stopped working so we decided to walk back to the car. Once we reached the car we saw another car pulling up and inside it was a man we had just seen at the gas station. I developed the film and the last photograph I took was of what appears to be a ghost." And she added, "I also had a ghostly encounter in Gettysburg that shocked me," but wouldn't give the details on that one.
Corinne’s project culminates in over 70 images taken with her 4 x 5 camera and reflects “an obsessive scientific-like investigation.” In addition to the images, the project also includes an archive of first-hand ghost stories, collected on location and over the phone. Both the photos and stories will soon be published in book form. For now, you can listen to these oral stories and check out the rest of the images at her website.
And while you’re there, don't miss her other series, including my favorites: "The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death", which take you right inside of miniature master-crafted crime scenes, and "Objectophilia" which explores the experiences of those who are sexually and emotionally attracted not to people, but to particular objects.
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