Hippolyte Baraduc

Hippolyte Ferdinand Baraduc (Hyères, Var, France, November 15, 1850 – Paris, France, May 1, 1909) was a French physician and parapsychologist, highly known for his depiction of thoughts and feelings using iconography.

Mesmerism
In his research, Hippolyte Baraduc ended up delving into topics on animal magnetism following the studies of Hans Reichenbach, mentioning in his 1895 thesis the difference between fluids: cosmic, vital and magnetic, all cataloged and examined in his works.

Fluidic photography
Baraduc believed it was possible to photograph human mental states or emotions, such as grief and mourning, as well as the human soul. In his 1896 book The Human Soul (L’Âme humaine), Baraduc published photographs referred to as "psychicones", or images of the soul, that he claimed were created by a "psycho-odic-fluidic-current" interacting with the photographic plates. Baraduc claims to have photographed the human soul were also made in a paper read before the Society of Psychic Sciences in Paris.

Baraduc's fluidic photography included fastening a live pigeon to a board with a photographic plate strapped to its chest and cutting the pigeon’s throat, with the photographic plate showing a "picture of its death agony taking the form of curling eddies". He placed a photographic plate on the body of a man in a totally dark room which “received an impression from the vital forces three hours after death".