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Kirlian Photography
What is Kirlian Photography?
By Daniel Sherwin
Photography is a photographic
technique that involves shooting a high voltage charge through an object that
is connected to a photographic plate.
The resulting image typically includes a
colored “aura” around the object.
There is perhaps no type of photography so
shot through with mystery and rumor as Kirlian Photography.
Accidentally discovered by Mr. and Mrs.
Kirlian in 1939, this photographic technique has a long history of association
with New Age metaphysics and the theory of “auras”.
To this day, a variety of mystical and healing
practices label themselves “Kirlian” – even if they have nothing to do with the
original photographic technique.
Separating the truth of Kirlian photography
from the myth is not a simple task; as is so often the case, scientists believe
the whole thing has been debunked, while believers are quick to point out flaws
in the experiments, while offering scientific sounding explanations of their
own.
The
Kirlian Myth
The Kirlian’s themselves suggested that the
auras in fact represented the “life force” of the object being photographed.
The idea is that all living things emit an
invisible aura, which the high voltage charge makes visible to the camera.
A couple of well-known experiments involving
plant leaves seem to support this theory.
In one, a leaf is photographed over several
days as it dies. The aura is large and intense in the first, and grows steadily
fainter and its “life force” vanishes.
In another, the leaf is torn and then
immediately photographed. The ‘aura’ of the missing section is still visible in
the photograph, even though it is no longer physically present.
The Kirlian Myth really took off during the
Seventies in the United State, when its peculiar blend of scientific discovery
and metaphysical implications captured the attention of New Age practitioners.
It was popularized by a 1970 book called Psychic
Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain (which incidentally won that
year’s Most Awesome Title award).
The Psychologist Dr. Thelma Moss of UCLA
explored implications of Kirlian effects during that decade. It was in her
laboratory that the most famous Kirlian photographs were shot: they appear as
the album art of George Harrison’s 1973 album Living in the Material
World.
The
Counter-Myth
Sadly, for us, we no longer live in the
psychedelic seventies, and as a result the credibility of the Kirlian Myth has
taken a hit.
Scientists today generally believe that
physical phenomena, rather than life forces, best explain the Kirlian effect.
They point out that even inanimate objects
appear to have auras, and point to methodological errors in the “torn leaf”
experiment.
No one denies that these auras really do
appear, but scientists believe that they reveal water molecules surrounding the
object. This explains the diminishing aura as the leaf dries out in the first
experiment.
Create your own Kirlian Photos!
Even if they don’t give us a glimpse of our
immaterial life force, Kirlian photos can still be pretty cool to look at.
Unfortunately, taking them, yourself requires
either a specialized camera, or working with sheet metal and a high voltage
power source.
If that sounds appealing to you, check
out this article .
For the rest of us, may I humbly recommend a little bit of photo editing?
Transforming a simple photograph into a
mystical masterpiece is a way to flex your PSP muscles. Give it a try yourself,
and post the results in the comments to the post. We’d love to see what you can
come up with!
The goal of the Discovery Center
is simple: to help people pursue their creative interests.
We know that there are two sides to any
artistic project, the creative idea and the technical know-how. The Discovery
Center therefore aims to inspire and to educate. Think of us as a forum for
aspiring enthusiasts to learn new skills and get new ideas in their own way and
at their own pace. The site includes a wide variety of creative and
instructional content designed to cater to every personality and learning
style. You will find new inspiration while browsing galleries of artistic
masterpieces from around the world. You can learn at your own pace with
structured courses made up of easy-to-follow video tutorials, or enhance your
training offline with a variety of detailed written tutorials and eBooks. We
want you to learn the way you want, when you want!
Creating is a journey. So is learning.
That journey begins here.
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