A photo of Abraham Lincolns face?

Scott K

Private
Joined
Jun 1, 2019
Location
Washington State
This is my first attempt to attach a snipped image to this forum. I hope you can see it.

A deep love of history and the want to, in one way or another immerse yourself in it, can cause a person (oh say me) to believe they've uncovered something new. I'm in no position to say that the attached image is that of Mr. Lincolns face but I can't help but believe it is. My interpretation (forgive my frequent use of that word) of the image is that he's moving slow enough to have had some distinct features captured while moving just enough to cause those features to be ever so slightly warped. Next to him I interpret two others. The scene seems to me to be an event where these three men are not posing yet more stationary than those that surround them. I've outlined the three in another image but I'd like to first know if you see something or if I'm imagining too much.

For now I'm going to have to withhold my source. Please know that I wouldn't waste my time or yours with something fabricated or whiffed of fabrication. The source is solid. The image is vague because it's on top of another - imposed on one another by what I suspect is either shoddy archival work or 150+ years of being beside one another.

Please let fly with your thoughts!
Sincerely,
Scott

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I see what you see, but the vagueness makes it rather difficult to identify. The forehead seems a bit high, and the ears could be mistaken for the bushiness surrounding a bald man's head. Nor do I see any beard. Skeptical, not susceptible. Interesting though; thanks.
Lubliner.
 
I'm sorry, to the extent I see any face at all, it looks to me like someone with a chubby face, slightly upturned toward the viewer's left, and a very full head of hair. (In all seriousness.)
I see what you see, but the vagueness makes it rather difficult to identify. The forehead seems a bit high, and the ears could be mistaken for the bushiness surrounding a bald man's head. Nor do I see any beard. Skeptical, not susceptible. Interesting though; thanks.
Lubliner.
Hmmm the one in the middle and the last one sure look like him.
Thanks for sharing your opinions guys. Lubliner, I'm on the same page as you with regard to the distortion/vagueness of the face making it impossible to say with confidence who the person is. And John, I also see the chubby faced person. Below is the image with outlines showing what causes me to want to lean towards interpreting it as an image of Lincoln......outlined at lower left appears to be a uniformed bearded dignitary/officer with starched white collar and plume (?) to the rear, lower and left of "Lincoln". It's those elements along with a photographers no-little-effort to capture something that's had me wondering.
-Scott


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I don't see anything either . I know there is a phenomenon where people see faces , etc. where none exist . I don't remember the name of it . Here is a picture that I took many years ago . At first it looks like a feline face with eyes , a nose and a mouth . In reality it is part of an old dock with knots and staples creating the odd image.

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With some concentration, and a healthy dose of pareidolia I can "see" a couple of faces in that massive blurr ... but neither coincides with any of your three, nor in any way resembles Lincoln. I'm afraid we are both seeing familiar shapes in the sky on a cloudy day.
 
I need a dose of that as well as a shot of rum.
Lubliner.
Just imagination is quite enough.

Pareidolia is what @Kurt G referred to in post #6 above: our instinctive tendancy to see specific, meaningful patterns, often faces, where none exists. Think of the Rorschach inkblot test. Sign of a healthy imagination.
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Just imagination is quite enough.

Pareidolia is what @Kurt G referred to in post #6 above: our instinctive tendancy to see specific, meaningful patterns, often faces, where none exists. Think of the Rorschach inkblot test. Sign of a healthy imagination.
I did look it up, and thought I could use the extra boost!
Lubliner.
 
I don't see anything either . I know there is a phenomenon where people see faces , etc. where none exist . I don't remember the name of it . Here is a picture that I took many years ago . At first it looks like a feline face with eyes , a nose and a mouth . In reality it is part of an old dock with knots and staples creating the odd image.

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Hi Kurt. Pareidolia is what you're probably thinking of. It's an influence I really do consider when looking at this and others I've come across. I've come across others, though not of "Lincoln", that are much less pareidoliaish than this very first one I've submitted and I sincerely believe they'd cause a bit of a stir. While I remain more unsure, than sure, about a lot of what I've found, I am pretty darn confident with the following:
  • CW photographers toyed with trying to capture action knowing that while it was unlikely something would be captured (or discerned by someone holding in their hands a wetplate) they attempted it. We hear nowadays what an expensive, cumbersome and time consuming process it was. That's our perspective. Their sponsors funded them very well, wanted to be cutting-edge, and on top of that the photographers themselves were scientists/artists. They played with their craft.
  • That CW photographers, when wanting to capture a subject that was stationary particularly when the subject was of such great interest and pressure was on, disregarded the movement around that subject knowing that it'd be unlikely the movement would "adhere"/be captured with the stationary subject.
  • In addition to photos of vague/blurred/faint things that are in proportion with the overall photo, I have come across images and/or vignettes within other images that are out of proportion with the overall photo. Transferred from one to another somehow.
In my opinion, while they're not clear and while they're not often easily pinpointed to a specific date or place, they bring to life that war unlike anything I've seen in my 40 years of study.

Here's one for you....a man and probably a couple of others. I interpret the man in the foreground looking to our right, maybe wearing a visored forage cap with insignia, moving to our right, hunched in way that suggests he's either playing an instrument or drinking from a vessle (ladle?). The other man (?) may have passed closer to the camera within seconds of the first.

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Hi Kurt. Pareidolia is what you're probably thinking of. It's an influence I really do consider when looking at this and others I've come across. I've come across others, though not of "Lincoln", that are much less pareidoliaish than this very first one I've submitted and I sincerely believe they'd cause a bit of a stir. While I remain more unsure, than sure, about a lot of what I've found, I am pretty darn confident with the following:
  • CW photographers toyed with trying to capture action knowing that while it was unlikely something would be captured (or discerned by someone holding in their hands a wetplate) they attempted it. We hear nowadays what an expensive, cumbersome and time consuming process it was. That's our perspective. Their sponsors funded them very well, wanted to be cutting-edge, and on top of that the photographers themselves were scientists/artists. They played with their craft.
  • That CW photographers, when wanting to capture a subject that was stationary particularly when the subject was of such great interest and pressure was on, disregarded the movement around that subject knowing that it'd be unlikely the movement would "adhere"/be captured with the stationary subject.
  • In addition to photos of vague/blurred/faint things that are in proportion with the overall photo, I have come across images and/or vignettes within other images that are out of proportion with the overall photo. Transferred from one to another somehow.
In my opinion, while they're not clear and while they're not often easily pinpointed to a specific date or place, they bring to life that war unlike anything I've seen in my 40 years of study.

Here's one for you....a man and probably a couple of others. I interpret the man in the foreground looking to our right, maybe wearing a visored forage cap with insignia, moving to our right, hunched in way that suggests he's either playing an instrument or drinking from a vessle (ladle?). The other man (?) may have passed closer to the camera within seconds of the first.

View attachment 407068
If I am not mistaken, these pictures are actually better quality than the images made on photographic film. As far as being able to electronically digitize and scrutinize within the picture individual nuances. Much of these studies I mention have increased among scholars and researchers due to the Dealey Plaza incident, and what really occurred that fateful day in November.
Lubliner.
 
Thanks for sharing your opinions guys. Lubliner, I'm on the same page as you with regard to the distortion/vagueness of the face making it impossible to say with confidence who the person is. And John, I also see the chubby faced person. Below is the image with outlines showing what causes me to want to lean towards interpreting it as an image of Lincoln......outlined at lower left appears to be a uniformed bearded dignitary/officer with starched white collar and plume (?) to the rear, lower and left of "Lincoln". It's those elements along with a photographers no-little-effort to capture something that's had me wondering.
-Scott
Thanks for providing the outlines. You've caught what I was referring to, and now I also understand the basis for a Lincoln interpretation.
 
Just imagination is quite enough.

Pareidolia is what @Kurt G referred to in post #6 above: our instinctive tendancy to see specific, meaningful patterns, often faces, where none exists. Think of the Rorschach inkblot test. Sign of a healthy imagination.
EDITED to add:View attachment 407065
That cloud looks ominous -- like a cross between Lincoln and John Brown!
 
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