Ted Serios: The Mind's Eye - (Paperback)

About the Book

"Our thoughts are known to us, and us alone. But for a brief period in the 1960s, Ted Serios (1918-2006) attempted to prove that his inner reality could be documented. Serios demonstrated an ostensibly psychic act termed "thoughtography," involving the transfer of mental images onto undeveloped Polaroid film. In studies supervised by respected Denver-based psychiatrist Dr. Jule Eisenbud, Serios produced over 1,000 anomalous photographs, a feat that has never been fully dismissed or wholly verified. Existing as an uncomfortable knot in time, the details of the Serios phenomenon can't be disentangled without questioning the social conditions that produced it in the first place. Contextualizing Serios' story within the twilight zone of 1960s America, Ted Serios: The Mind's Eye considers the reaches and restraints of belief and explores the multiple dimensions at play in the Serios phenomenon, including interpersonal relationships, scientific methods, photographic technologies, state militaristic operations and popular culture. Rather than seeking absolute truth, the volume allows the reader to arrive at their own conclusions through a series of thematic essays, narrative photographic stories, select ephemera and contemporary cultural artifacts."--Publisher provided description.

Book Synopsis

The extraordinary story of the Chicago bellhop who attempted to transfer mental images to Polaroid film

Our thoughts are known to us, and us alone. But for a brief period in the 1960s, Ted Serios (1918-2006) attempted to prove that his inner reality could be documented. Serios demonstrated an ostensibly psychic act termed "thoughtography," involving the transfer of mental images onto undeveloped Polaroid film. In studies supervised by respected Denver-based psychiatrist Dr. Jule Eisenbud, Serios produced over 1,000 anomalous photographs, a feat that has never been fully dismissed or wholly verified. Existing as an uncomfortable knot in time, the details of the Serios phenomenon can't be disentangled without questioning the social conditions that produced it in the first place.
Contextualizing Serios' story within the twilight zone of 1960s America, Ted Serios: The Mind's Eye considers the reaches and restraints of belief and explores the multiple dimensions at play in the Serios phenomenon, including interpersonal relationships, scientific methods, photographic technologies, state militaristic operations and popular culture. Rather than seeking absolute truth, the volume allows the reader to arrive at their own conclusions through a series of thematic essays, narrative photographic stories, select ephemera and contemporary cultural artifacts.

Review Quotes

Helps convey why he was such a compelling character, not just in the images he made but in the physicality of the experiments.--Allison C. Meier "Raw Vision"

Indeed, in a way, if unintentionally, he was broadening our understanding of photography to see beyond the range of the human eye.--Christopher Borrelli "Chicago Tribune"