Kirlian photography
Encyclopedia
Photogram
A photogram is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a photo-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. The result is a negative shadow image varying in tone, depending on the transparency of the objects used...
made with voltage
Voltage
Voltage, otherwise known as electrical potential difference or electric tension is the difference in electric potential between two points — or the difference in electric potential energy per unit charge between two points...
. It is named after Semyon Kirlian, who in 1939 accidentally discovered that if an object on a photographic plate
Photographic plate
Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a means of photography. A light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was applied to a glass plate. This form of photographic material largely faded from the consumer market in the early years of the 20th century, as more convenient and less fragile...
is connected to a source of voltage an image is produced on the photographic plate.
Kirlian's work, from 1939 onward, involved an independent rediscovery of a phenomenon and technique variously called "electrography", "electrophotography" and "corona discharge photography." The Kirlian technique is contact photography, in which the subject is in direct contact with a film placed upon a charged metal plate.
The underlying physics (which makes xerographic
Xerography
Xerography is a dry photocopying technique invented by Chester Carlson in 1938, for which he was awarded on October 6, 1942. Carlson originally called his invention electrophotography...
copying possible) was explored as early as 1777 by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg was a German scientist, satirist and Anglophile. As a scientist, he was the first to hold a professorship explicitly dedicated to experimental physics in Germany...
(see Lichtenberg figures). Later workers in the field included Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
; various other individuals explored the effect in the later 19th and early 20th centuries.
Kirlian said that the image he was studying might be compared with the human aura
Aura (paranormal)
In parapsychology and many forms of spiritual practice, an aura is a field of subtle, luminous radiation surrounding a person or object . The depiction of such an aura often connotes a person of particular power or holiness. Sometimes, however, it is said that all living things and all objects...
. An experiment in evidence of energy fields generated by living entities involves taking Kirlian contact photographs of a picked leaf at set periods, its gradual withering corresponding with a decline in the strength of the aura. In some experiments, if a section of a leaf was torn away after the first photograph, a faint image of the missing section would remain when a second photograph was taken. The Archives of American Art Journal of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
published a leading article with reproductions of images of this phenomenon. James Randi
James Randi
James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
has suggested that this effect was due to contamination of the glass plates, which were reused for both the "before" and "after" photographs.
Research
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Dr. Thelma Moss
Thelma Moss
Thelma Moss, Ph.D. was an American psychologist and parapsychologist, best known for her work on Kirlian photography and the human aura....
of UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
devoted much time and energy to the study of Kirlian photography when she led the parapsychology
Parapsychology
The term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
laboratory there in the 1970s.
Also, in the 1970s psychologist Joe H. Slate Ph.D. led research at Athens State University
Athens State University
Athens State University, located in Athens, Alabama, USA, is a two-year upper level university. Athens State is the only two-year upper level university in the state of Alabama. Thirty-three different majors are offered to junior and senior students....
under the United States Army Aviation and Missile Command
United States Army Aviation and Missile Command
The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command is primarily responsible for life cycle management of army missile, helicopter, unmanned ground vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle weapon systems. The central part of AMCOM's job involves acquisition and sustainment support for aviation and...
as project "Kirlian Photography" (Featured in the History Channel's Vampire Secrets
Vampire Secrets
Vampire Secrets is a 2006 docudrama about the mythology and lifestyle of vampires, produced by Indigo Films for the History Channel, and narrated by Corey Burton....
).
Current research continues by Dr. Konstantin Korotkov in the Russian University, St. Petersburg State Technical University of Informational Technologies, Mechanics and Optics. Dr. Korotkov has published several books. He uses GDV (Gas Discharge Visualization) based on the Kirlian Effect. GDV instruments use glass electrodes to create a pulsed electrical field excitation (called "perturbation technique") to measure electro-photonic glow.
The Korotkov methods are used in some hospitals and athletic training programs in Russia and elsewhere as preventive measurements for detecting stress. The Russian Academy of Science has approved the GDV techniques and equipment in 1999 for general clinical use, though the "approval", according to the certificates Dr. Korotkov himself is showing in his various web sites, only covers conformity with general electrical safety (standards 61010 and 61326).
There has been some published research in peer-reviewed scientific journals regarding GDV and related material, including several articles in the Journal of Applied Physics
Journal of Applied Physics
The Journal of Applied Physics is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published since 1931 by the American Institute of Physics. Its emphasis is on the understanding of the physics underpinning modern technology....
and in IEEE articles.
Explanations
Corona discharge
In electricity, a corona discharge is an electrical discharge brought on by the ionization of a fluid surrounding a conductor that is electrically energized...
, similar to those seen from other high voltage sources such as the Van de Graaff generator
Van de Graaff generator
A Van de Graaff generator is an electrostatic generator which uses a moving belt to accumulate very high voltages on a hollow metal globe on the top of the stand. It was invented in 1929 by American physicist Robert J. Van de Graaff. The potential differences achieved in modern Van de Graaff...
or Tesla coil
Tesla coil
A Tesla coil is a type of resonant transformer circuit invented by Nikola Tesla around 1891. It is used to produce high voltage, low current, high frequency alternating current electricity. Tesla coils produce higher current than the other source of high voltage discharges, electrostatic machines...
. In a darkened room, this is visible as a faint glow but, in this case, the film is affected in a slightly different way from usual. Color photographic film is calibrated to faithfully produce colors when exposed to normal light. The corona discharge has a somewhat different effect on the different layers of dye used to accomplish this result, resulting in various colors depending on the local intensity of the discharge.
In popular culture
- The concert programme from David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
's 1976 Station to StationStation to StationStation to Station is the tenth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1976. Commonly regarded as one of his most significant works, Station to Station is also notable as the vehicle for Bowie's last great 'character', The Thin White Duke...
tour featured some results of the technique, and in 1975 Bowie claimed to have achieved markedly different results, using his fingertip and his crucifixCrucifixA crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
, before and after he took cocaineCocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. The David Bowie album EarthlingEarthling (album)Earthling is an album by David Bowie released in February 1997 via BMG. The album showcases an electronica-influenced sound partly inspired by the Industrial and drum and bass culture of the 1990s.-Album background and development:...
and the single "Little WonderLittle Wonder"Little Wonder" is a song and single by David Bowie, from the 1997 album Earthling. It was the album's biggest hit, reaching number 14 in The United Kingdom and topping the charts in Japan.-Background:...
" used the images Bowie created as part of their cover and interior artwork. - Science fiction author Piers AnthonyPiers AnthonyPiers Anthony Dillingham Jacob is an English American writer in the science fiction and fantasy genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is most famous for his long-running novel series set in the fictional realm of Xanth.Many of his books have appeared on the New York Times Best...
wrote a series of five booksCluster (novels)Cluster is a series of science fiction novels by Piers Anthony. Anthony originally conceived of and wrote the series as a trilogy but later added two additional volumes.-Setting:...
(Cluster, Chaining the Lady, Kirlian Quest, Thousandstar and Viscous Circle) based on the premise of Kirlian transfer, the idea that a person's identity resides in his or her Kirlian aura and can be transferred to a host, in effect transferring the individual into another body, thus allowing the main character to traverse galaxiesGalaxyA galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...
and "be" a variety of aliensExtraterrestrial lifeExtraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
during the course of a single book. - In the movie Omen IV: The AwakeningOmen IV: The AwakeningOmen IV: The Awakening is a 1991 made-for-television film that serves as the fourth and final addition to the original The Omen series, directed by Jorge Montesi and Dominique Othenin-Girard. It was the final film of the original "Omen" series. This was intended to be the first of many televisual...
, Delia's babysitter, Jo, takes Delia to a psychic carnival where she and Delia had their picture taken with a Kirlian camera. - In the Old World of DarknessWorld of Darkness"World of Darkness" is the name given to three related but distinct fictional universes created as settings for supernatural horror themed role-playing games. It is also the name of roleplaying games in the second and third settings...
book Project Twilight, Kirlian photography is one of the methods available to government vampire hunters to detect ghosts, spirits, and auras. In the New World of Darkness book Hunter: The VigilHunter: The VigilHunter: The Vigil is a game line from White Wolf, announced on January 2, 2008, and released on August 14, 2008, when the sponsors for the second Free RPG Day were announced. It is the sixth game line to be part of the World of Darkness and the spiritual successor of Hunter: The Reckoning from the...
, Kirlian photographic equipment is used by some hunters to investigate supernatural phenomena. - In Margaret AtwoodMargaret AtwoodMargaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
's speculative dystopian novel, Oryx and CrakeOryx and CrakeOryx and Crake is a novel by the Canadian author Margaret Atwood. Atwood has at times disputed the novel being science fiction, preferring to label it speculative fiction and "adventure romance" because it does not deal with 'things that have not been invented yet' and goes beyond the realism she...
(2002), scientists engineer "Kirilian energy-sensing algae" that is capable of detecting human emotions. - In the X-Files season 4 episode "Leonard Betts", Kirlian photography was used to photograph the decapitated head, revealing the faint aura of a man's shoulders.
External links
- Kirlian photography article from the MYSTICA.ORG
- Research on GDV Bioelectrography, list of research done from 1973 until 2003.
- http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Medicine/Biofield.html description of auras and bioenergetic fields