Kirlian Photography: Building Your Own Equipment

Kirlian photography is a type of high voltage, contact print photography that dates back to the late 1700s. Semyon Davidovich Kirlian and his wife Valentina developed the technique over 30 years, with their work being first introduced to the public in 1970 through a book by Shelia Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder. The process involves placing a metal plate and film together, applying high voltage to create a corona discharge, and recording the image onto the film. The technique can be used with a standard camera with a transparent electrode, but it is typically a contact print process that doesn't require a camera or lens. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Nicola Tesla, and Yakov Narkevich-Todka are also mentioned as early researchers in the field of electro-photography.