Kirlian Photography: Building Your Own Equipment

Kirlian photography is a high-voltage contact-print process: an object rests on sheet film over a metal discharge plate, and a brief electrical pulse creates a corona discharge recorded on the film. The guide traces the practice from early experiments with static electricity and Tesla coils to Semyon and Valentina Kirlian’s work beginning in 1939. It rejects paranormal interpretations of the images, arguing that changes in the corona can be explained by ordinary variables such as skin resistance, pressure, humidity, voltage, frequency, and exposure time. It discusses the often-cited “phantom leaf” effect, in which a cut-off section appears in an image, but says the reported results are difficult to reproduce and the necessary experimental conditions are unclear.

The practical instructions describe building a portable, battery-powered device using a high-voltage transformer, capacitors, a momentary switch, and a copper-clad discharge plate covered with thin plastic. The battery supply can use two 67.5-volt instrument batteries or a series of 9-volt batteries; the guide warns that the unit can deliver a dangerous shock despite its low-voltage battery input. It also outlines using 4-by-5-inch black-and-white ortho film, which can be handled under a red safelight and developed with developer and fixer. A transparent electrode is proposed for making exposures with a standard camera or video camera, unlike the usual contact-print arrangement. The emphasis is on producing striking images and testing the equipment, not on claiming that the patterns reveal hidden biological or psychic information.