Mystery Lab / Photographs & images
Explore the Cottingley story with a paper star
How does the same paper star look from farther away, closer up and from the side? Explore two changes, one at a time.
What story is this activity based on?
In 1917, photographs taken by two cousins in the English village of Cottingley showed fairy figures in a garden. Some viewers accepted the pictures as evidence that real fairies existed.
Later explanations described paper drawings held upright for the camera. Here, an original paper star takes their place so you can see what changes in the camera view.
Why use a paper star instead of fairies?
The star did not appear in the Cottingley photographs. It is a simple example for exploring how the same paper object can look different from different distances and directions.
Read the story behind the Cottingley photographs
You have explored how a paper object looks to a camera. Who made the historical photographs, and why did people take an interest? Continue with the story and the surviving records in the reading.
Read the Cottingley storyOpen the museum collection record