Mind’s Eye: The Psychic Photographs of Ted Serios
January 25–April 1, 2023
University Gallery
Guest Curator: Emily Hauver, Curator of Exhibitions, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
Between 1964 and 1967, American psychiatrist Dr. Jule Eisenbud conducted experiments with Ted Serios, a man from Chicago with the purported ability to psychically transfer his thoughts onto Polaroid film in a process he named “thoughtography.” Questioning the limits of the human psyche, the supposed objectivity of photography, and notions of scientific neutrality, Mind’s Eye presents a selection of Serios’ mysterious photographs, along with ephemera and experimental data from the Jule Eisenbud Collection on Ted Serios and Thoughtographic Photography, a highlight of the Special Collections at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Organized in collaboration with the Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), United States.
Events
Curators in Conversation: Emily Hauver & Paul Roth
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
7pm ET
Online via Zoom
Register now
Ted Serios, [Ted Serios], ca. 1964-1967, diffusion transfer (Polaroid) print. The Jule Eisenbud Collection on Ted Serios and Thoughtographic Photography, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Ted Serios, [Hotel and palm trees], March 6, 1965, diffusion transfer (Polaroid) print. The Jule Eisenbud Collection on Ted Serios and Thoughtographic Photography, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Curator Bio
Emily Hauver
Emily Hauver is Curator of Exhibitions in the Library Gallery at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She holds a MS in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in Visual Arts from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has curated two exhibitions exploring the paranormal output of Ted Serios: Mind’s Eye: The Psychic Photographs of Ted Serios will debut at The Image Centre at Toronto Metropolitan University in 2023; Psychic Projections/Photographic Impressions was presented at UMBC’s Library Gallery in 2011. Her other curatorial projects are often situated at the intersection of contemporary photography and important social issues of the day, including Louie Palu: Distant Early Warning (2022) and Tom Kiefer: El Sueño Americano/The American Dream (2019). Emily is a contributing author of the forthcoming publication Ted Serios: The Mind's Eye (Atelier Editions, 2023).
Installation Shots
Mind’s Eye: The Psychic Photographs of Ted Serios (installation view), 2023 © James Morley, The Image Centre
Mind’s Eye: The Psychic Photographs of Ted Serios (installation view), 2023 © James Morley, The Image Centre
Mind’s Eye: The Psychic Photographs of Ted Serios (installation view), 2023 © James Morley, The Image Centre
