Originally Posted by tore

^In the 1800s (and today for that matter), I'm sure such pictures were easily created by very long exposure times and people not staying still until the picture was done. The guy probably sat in the chair for a few seconds and then fled the scene.

I don't wanna be rude, but there is such an amazing abundance of fake photographs and people trying to trick other people that anyone's first assumption when confronted with pictures like that should be "that's fake". Even if you can't know for sure, you're more likely to be right by assuming it's fake and less likely to be fooled.