![Kirl66 g](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Kirl66_g.png)
Kirlian photography is a collection of photographic techniques used to capture the phenomenon of electrical
coronal discharges. It is named after
Semyon Kirlian, who, in 1939, accidentally discovered that if an object on a
photographic plate is connected to a high-voltage source, an image is produced on the photographic plate.
[Julie McCarron-Benson in ''Skeptical - a Handbook of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal'', ed ]Donald Laycock
Donald Laycock (1936–1988) was an Australian linguist and anthropologist. He is best remembered for his work on the languages of Papua New Guinea.
Biography
He was a graduate of University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and later ...
, David Vernon, Colin Groves
Colin Peter Groves (24 June 1942 – 30 November 2017) was a British-Australian biologist and anthropologist. Groves was Professor of Biological Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.
Education
Born in Englan ...
, Simon Brown, Imagecraft, Canberra, 1989, , p11
The technique has been variously known as
"electrography",
"electrophotography",
"corona discharge photography" (CDP),
"bioelectrography",
"gas discharge visualization (GDV)",
"electrophotonic imaging (EPI)",
and, in Russian literature, "Kirlianography".
Kirlian photography has been the subject of scientific research,
parapsychology
Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near ...
research, and art.
Paranormal
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...
claims have been made about Kirlian photography, but these claims are rejected by the scientific community.
[Singer, Barry. (1981). ''Kirlian Photography''. In George O. Abell, Barry Singer. ''Science and the Paranormal''. pp. 196-208. ][Watkins, Arleen J; Bickell, William S. (1986). ''A Study of the Kirlian Effect''. Skeptical Inquirer 10: 244-257.] To a large extent, it has been used in
alternative medicine research.
History
In 1889, Czech B. Navratil coined the word "electrography". Seven years later in 1896, a French experimenter, H. Baraduc, created electrographs of hands and leaves.
In 1898, Polish-Belarusian engineer Jakub Jodko-Narkiewicz
[Alternatively transliterated ''Narkevich-Yodko''. It is spelled Narkevich-Todko in some sources; In Russian: Наркевич-Йодко. Some sources state that he was Polish, rendering his name Jacob Jodko-Narkiewicz] demonstrated electrography at the fifth exhibition of the Russian Technical Society.
![A Kirlian Photography, male 1989](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/A_Kirlian_Photography%2C_male_1989.jpg)
In 1939, two Czechs, S. Pratt and J. Schlemmer published photographs showing a glow around leaves. The same year, Russian electrical engineer
Semyon Kirlian and his wife Valentina developed Kirlian photography after observing a patient in Krasnodar Hospital who was receiving medical treatment from a high-frequency electrical generator. They had noticed that when the electrodes were brought near the patient's skin, there was a glow similar to that of a
neon discharge tube.
The Kirlians conducted experiments in which photographic film was placed on top of a conducting plate, and another conductor was attached to a hand, a leaf or other plant material. The conductors were energized by a high-frequency high-voltage power source, producing photographic images typically showing a silhouette of the object surrounded by an aura of light.
In 1958, the Kirlians reported the results of their experiments for the first time. Their work was virtually unknown until 1970, when two Americans, Lynn Schroeder and Sheila Ostrander, published a book, ''Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain''. High-voltage electrophotography soon became known to the general public as Kirlian photography. Although little interest was generated among western scientists, Russians held a conference on the subject in 1972 at
Kazakh State University
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University ( kz, Әл-Фараби атындағы Қазақ ұлттық университеті, Äl-Farabi atyndağy Qazaq Ūlttyq Universitetı), also called KazGU or KazNU, is a university in Almaty, Kazakhstan ...
.
Kirlian photography was used in the former
Eastern Bloc in the 1970s. The corona discharge glow at the surface of an object subjected to a high-voltage
electrical field
An electric field (sometimes E-field) is the physical field that surrounds electrically charged particles and exerts force on all other charged particles in the field, either attracting or repelling them. It also refers to the physical field f ...
was referred to as a "Kirlian aura" in Russia and Eastern Europe. In 1975, soviet scientist Victor Adamenko wrote a dissertation titled ''Research of the structure of High-frequency electric discharge (Kirlian effect) images''. Scientific study of what the researchers called the Kirlian effect was conducted by Victor Inyushin at Kazakh State University.
Early in the 1970s,
Thelma Moss
Thelma Moss (born Thelma Schnee, January 6, 1918 – February 1, 1997) was an American actress, and later a psychologist and parapsychologist, best known for her work on Kirlian photography and the human aura.
Biography
Born Thelma Schnee ...
and Kendall Johnson at the Center for Health Sciences at the
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
conducted extensive research
[ into Kirlian photography. Moss led an independent and unsupported ]parapsychology
Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near ...
laboratory that was shut down by the university in 1979.
Overview
Kirlian photography is a technique for creating contact print
A contact print is a photographic image produced from film; sometimes from a film negative, and sometimes from a film positive or paper negative. In a darkroom an exposed and developed piece of film or photographic paper is placed emulsion ...
photographs using high voltage
High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant sp ...
. The process entails placing sheet photographic film on top of a metal discharge plate. The object to be photographed is then placed directly on top of the film. High voltage current is momentarily applied to the object, thus creating an exposure. The corona discharge
A corona discharge is an electrical discharge caused by the ionization of a fluid such as air surrounding a conductor (material), conductor carrying a high voltage. It represents a local region where the air (or other fluid) has undergone e ...
between the object and the plate due to high-voltage is captured by the film. The developed film results in a Kirlian photograph of the object.
Color photographic film is calibrated to produce faithful colors when exposed to normal light. Corona discharges can interact with minute variations in the different layers of dye used in the film, resulting in a wide variety of colors depending on the local intensity of the discharge. Film and digital imaging techniques also record light produced by photon
A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless, so they a ...
s emitted during corona discharge (see Mechanism of corona discharge).
Photographs of inanimate objects such as a coins, keys and leaves can be made more effectively by grounding the object to the earth, a cold water pipe or to the opposite (polarity) side of the high-voltage source. Grounding the object creates a stronger corona discharge.
Kirlian photography does not require the use of a camera or a lens because it is a contact print process. It is possible to use a transparent electrode in place of the high-voltage discharge plate, for capturing the resulting corona discharge with a standard photo or video camera.
Visual artists such as Robert Buelteman, Ted Hiebert, and Dick Lane have used Kirlian photography to produce artistic images of a variety of subjects.
Research
Kirlian photography has been a subject of scientific research, parapsychology
Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near ...
research and pseudoscientific claims.
Scientific research
Results of scientific experiments published in 1976 involving Kirlian photography of living tissue (human finger tips) showed that most of the variations in corona discharge streamer length, density, curvature, and color can be accounted for by the moisture content on the surface of and within the living tissue.
Konstantin Korotkov developed a technique similar to Kirlian photography called "gas discharge visualization" (GDV). Korotkov's GDV camera system consists of hardware and software to directly record, process and interpret GDV images with a computer. Korotkov promotes the device and research in a medical context. Izabela Ciesielska at the Institute of Architecture of Textiles in Poland used Korotkov's GDV camera to evaluate the effects of human contact with various textiles on biological factors such as heart rate and blood pressure, as well as corona discharge images. The experiments captured corona discharge images of subjects' fingertips while the subjects wore sleeves of various natural and synthetic materials on their forearms. The results failed to establish a relationship between human contact with the textiles and the corona discharge images and were considered inconclusive.[
]
Parapsychology research
In 1968, Thelma Moss
Thelma Moss (born Thelma Schnee, January 6, 1918 – February 1, 1997) was an American actress, and later a psychologist and parapsychologist, best known for her work on Kirlian photography and the human aura.
Biography
Born Thelma Schnee ...
, a psychology professor, headed the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute
The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior is a research institute of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). It includes a number of centers, including the "Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics", which uses DNA sequencing, g ...
(NPI), which was later renamed the Semel Institute. The NPI had a laboratory dedicated to parapsychology research and staffed mostly with volunteers. The lab was unfunded, unsanctioned and eventually shut down by the university. Toward the end of her tenure at UCLA, Moss became interested in Kirlian photography, a technique that supposedly measured the "auras" of a living being. According to Kerry Gaynor, one of her former research assistants, "many felt Kirlian photography's effects were just a natural occurrence."[
Paranormal claims of Kirlian photography have not been observed or replicated in experiments by the scientific community.] The physiologist Gordon Stein
Gordon Stein (April 30, 1941 – August 27, 1996) was an American author, physiologist, and activist for atheism and religious skepticism.
Biography
Stein was born in New York to Jewish parents, and from an early age took an interest in science ...
has written that Kirlian photography is a hoax that has "nothing to do with health, vitality, or mood of a subject photographed."
Claims
Kirlian believed that images created by Kirlian photography might depict a conjectural energy field, or aura, thought, by some, to surround living things. Kirlian and his wife were convinced that their images showed a life force or energy field that reflected the physical and emotional states of their living subjects. They thought that these images could be used to diagnose illnesses. In 1961, they published their first article on the subject in the Russian Journal of Scientific and Applied Photography. Kirlian's claims were embraced by energy treatments practitioners.
Torn leaf experiment
A typical demonstration used as evidence for the existence of these energy fields involved taking Kirlian photographs of a picked leaf at set intervals. The gradual withering of the leaf was thought to correspond 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 sometimes remains when a second photograph was taken. However, if the imaging surface is cleaned of contaminants and residual moisture before the second image is taken, then no image of the missing section will appear.
The living aura theory is at least partially repudiated by demonstrating that leaf moisture content has a pronounced effect on the electric discharge coronas; more moisture creates larger corona discharges. As the leaf dehydrates, the coronas will naturally decrease in variability and intensity. As a result, the changing water content of the leaf can affect the so-called Kirlian aura. Kirlian's experiments did not provide evidence for an energy field other than the electric fields produced by chemical processes and the streaming process of coronal discharges.[
The coronal discharges identified as Kirlian auras are the result of stochastic ]electric
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
ionization
Ionization, or Ionisation is the process by which an atom or a molecule acquires a negative or positive charge by gaining or losing electrons, often in conjunction with other chemical changes. The resulting electrically charged atom or molecul ...
processes and are greatly affected by many factors, including the voltage and frequency of the stimulus, the pressure with which a person or object touches the imaging surface, the local humidity around the object being imaged, how well grounded the person or object is, and other local factors affecting the conductivity of the person or object being imaged. Oils, sweat, bacteria, and other ionizing
Ionization, or Ionisation is the process by which an atom or a molecule acquires a negative or positive charge by gaining or losing electrons, often in conjunction with other chemical changes. The resulting electrically charged atom or molecule i ...
contaminants found on living tissues can also affect the resulting images.
Qi
Scientists such as Beverly Rubik have explored the idea of a human biofield using Kirlian photography research, attempting to explain the Chinese discipline of Qigong
''Qigong'' (), ''qi gong'', ''chi kung'', ''chi 'ung'', or ''chi gung'' () is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation
used for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial-arts training. With roots in ...
. Qigong teaches that there is a vitalistic energy called qi (or chi) that permeates all living things.
Rubik's experiments relied on Konstantin Korotkov's GDV device to produce images, which were thought to visualize these qi biofields in chronically ill patients. Rubik acknowledges that the small sample size in her experiments "was too small to permit a meaningful statistical analysis". Claims that these energies can be captured by special photographic equipment are criticized by skeptics.[
]
In popular culture
Kirlian photography has appeared as a fictional element in numerous books, films, television series, and media productions, including the 1975 film ''The Kirlian Force'', re-released under the more sensational title ''Psychic Killer
''Psychic Killer'' is a 1975 American horror film directed by Ray Danton and written by Greydon Clark, Mikel Angel and Ray Danton. The film stars Paul Burke, Jim Hutton, Julie Adams, Nehemiah Persoff, Neville Brand and Aldo Ray. The film was ...
''. Kirlian photographs have been used as visual components in various media, such as the sleeve of George Harrison's 1973 album ''Living in the Material World
''Living in the Material World'' is the fourth studio album by English musician George Harrison, released in 1973 on Apple Records. As the follow-up to 1970's critically acclaimed ''All Things Must Pass'' and his pioneering charity project, th ...
'', which features Kirlian photographs of his hand holding a Hindu medallion on the front sleeve and American coins on the back, shot at Thelma Moss's UCLA parapsychology laboratory.[Tillery, G. ''Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison'' (2011)]
The artwork of David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
's 1997 album '' Earthling'' has reproductions of Kirlian photographs taken by Bowie. The photographs, which show a crucifix Bowie wore his neck and the imprint of his "forefinger" tip, date to April 1975 when Bowie was living in Los Angeles and fascinated with the paranormal. The photographs were taken before consuming cocaine and 30 minutes afterwards. The after photograph apparently shows a substantial increase in the "aura" around the crucifix and forefinger.
The ''Cluster'' novels by science fiction author Piers Anthony
Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born 6 August 1934) is an American author in the science fiction and Fantasy (genre), fantasy genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is best known for his :Xanth books, long-running novel series set in ...
uses the concept of the Kirlian Aura as a way to transfer a person's personality into another body, even an alien body, across light years.
See also
*
*
*Bioelectromagnetism
Bioelectromagnetics, also known as bioelectromagnetism, is the study of the interaction between electromagnetic fields and biological entities. Areas of study include electromagnetic fields produced by living cells, tissues or organisms, the ...
*L-field
Harold Saxton Burr (April 18, 1889 – February 17, 1973) was E. K. Hunt Professor of Anatomy at Yale University School of Medicine and researcher into bio-electrics.
Early life
He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1889, to parents Hanfo ...
*List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
This is a list of topics that have, either currently or in the past, been characterized as pseudoscience by academics or researchers. Detailed discussion of these topics may be found on their main pages. These characterizations were made in the ...
* Magnetic particle inspection (Magnaflux)
*Timeline of Russian innovation
This timeline of Russian Innovation encompasses key events in the history of technology in Russia, from the Grand Duchy of Moscow up to the Russian Federation.
The entries in this timeline fall into the following categories:
* indigenous invent ...
* Walter Kilner
* ''Water'' (2006 film)
Notes
References
Further reading
*Becker, Robert and Selden, Gary, ''The Body Electric:Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life'', (Quill/Williams Morrow, 1985)
*Krippner, S. and Rubin, D., ''Galaxies of Life'', (Gordon and Breach, 1973)
*Ostrander, S. and Schroeder, L., ''Psi Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain'', (Prentice-Hall 1970)
*Iovine, John ''Kirlian Photography - A Hands on Guide '', (McGraw-Hill 1993)
External links
*
Kirlian Photography and the "Aura"
', Dr. Rory Coker, Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin
*', Victor J. Stenger
Victor John Stenger (; January 29, 1935 – August 25, 2014) was an American particle physicist, philosopher, author, and religious skeptic.
Following a career as a research scientist in the field of particle physics, Stenger was associated ...
, University of Hawaii at Manoa
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