How Does Kirlian Photography Work?

History

• Experiments photographing objects exposed to an electrical field began as early as the 1890s. However, it was the Soviet scientists Semyon and Valentina Kirlian who developed what is now known as Kirlian photography in the late 1930s. In 1961, they published an explanation of their work in the "Russian Journal of Scientific and Applied Photography." An object or body part is placed against photographic paper and then exposed to an electrical field. When the photograph is developed, the object or body part is surrounded by an eerily beautiful glow.

Believers

• When Kirlian photography reached the West in the 1960s and '70s, New Age believers and paranormal researchers linked it to a wide range of phenomena, such as telepathy, acupuncture and a form of primordial cosmic energy called orgone energy. Parapsychologist and UCLA professor Thelma Moss and her former student, Kendall Johnson, believed Kirlian photography revealed what she called "bioenergy" given off by the astral body, an entity similar to the soul. Many New Agers believe that Kirlian photographs depict auras, supernatural energy fields said to surround every living thing. According to New Age spiritual beliefs, auras have deep spiritual significance and can give specially trained aura readers insights into a person's spiritual growth and development.

Skeptics

• Skeptics maintain that Kirlian photographs depict a fascinating, but perfectly natural, phenomenon. The most widely accepted explanation is that Kirlian photographs depict corona discharge, the same phenomenon that causes lightning and St. Elmo's Fire. Corona discharge occurs when electrical sparks are transferred between an electrically grounded object and the electrode generating the electrical field. Scientists who've studied Kirlian photography assert that variations seen in so-called auras are actually the result of the amount of moisture produced by the skin when the subject's body part was photographed. In the late 1970s, researchers at Philadelphia's Drexel University determined several factors such as mental stress, recent exercise and attributes of the skin could all affect the results of Kirlian photography.

Alternative Medicine

• Some practitioners of alternative medicine use Kirlian photography as a diagnostic tool. A patient's body part, such as hand or foot, is placed on a piece of photographic paper resting on an electrically charged metal plate. The body part and photographic paper are then exposed to an electrical field for approximately one minute. The medical practitioner develops the photograph and examines the image. Supposedly the color, shape and intensity of the patient's supposed aura reflect the patient's physical and psychological condition including energy level, emotional state, disease and overall health. However, factors, such as moisture, temperature, voltage, frequency, exposure time and even the amount of pressure placed on the plate can affect the quality of the image. Mainstream doctors do not consider Kirlian photography a legitimate tool.