What is Kirlian photography and why do pseudoscientists use it?
The art of photography includes many different forms, methods, and schools of thought. But what everyone can agree on, aside from Photoshop and the claims of ghost photos, is that the photos show real-life images.
Get into Kirlian photography! By itself it is not that strange, it is a form of photography (surprise) that uses electricity. It’s actually a type of frame, also known as contact printing, which is a photo taken without a camera by placing objects directly on light-sensitive paper and exposing them to light. In this case, the surface on which the object is placed is exposed to electricity. The process was accidentally discovered by Russian inventor Semyon Davidovich Kirlian, hence the title.
The typical process of Kirlian photography involves a metal plate with a sheet of film on top and the object to be photographed is placed on top. High voltage is momentarily applied to the board, onto which the corona discharge is then copied. A corona discharge occurs when a current flows from one electrode to another through a neutral fluid, such as air, ionizing that fluid. Ionization creates a region of plasma around the electrodes. The plasma rotates around whatever object is placed on the plate, thus following its shape. The resulting image shows a simple outline of the shape, surrounded by a beautiful shiny ring, usually blue or purple in color. The ring often looks somewhat fuzzy, as if thousands of bright filaments protrude from the perimeter of the object.
Very cool! But it is just a captured image of a naturally occurring electrical phenomenon, the same phenomena that sometimes appear on airplanes and ships in the form of St. Elmo’s Fire. But that explanation is not mystical enough! Doesn’t that creepy bright light look like … an aura?
Many people apparently think so. Kirlian photography has been used by New Age pseudoscientists of all caliber around the world to reinforce their ideas about mind and body energy, chakras and auras. Kirlian photography is used by charlatans of all kinds to identify (for a fee, of course) individuals and objects with supernatural powers, to study the before and after effects of whatever special healing methods they are using, etc.
According to Quackwatch, the quality and appearance of the light captured in a Kirlian photograph can be influenced by up to 22 different physical, chemical and photochemical characteristics, thus creating a field day for pseudoscientists who want to claim that changes in the photographed aura ” “occur because of xyz.
Electricity is such an incredible force to be reckoned with (and harnessed!) That it’s really no wonder so many products claim to use electricity to access some mystical alternate dimension or reality. But rest assured, everything about Kirlian photography, at the very least, can be explained scientifically and rationally.