Kirlian Photography

Kirlian Photography is the area of photography dedicated to reproducing an image on a photographic plate by using an electric field or high voltage. In 1936, Semyon Kirlian accidentally developed this type of photography that now bears his name. Kirlian photography is considered to be a type of contact print photography that involves producing images by photosensitive film to light.

Kirlian style photos render images that appear to have a halo or a light aura surrounding them. Consequently, this type of a photo tends to be used to create an ethereal and ghostly feel. For this reason, Kirlian photography has been a tool of gothic photographers who attempt to cast attention on other-worldly subjects.

Thelma Moss is one of the more noted people to use Kirlian photography. As a parapsychologist, Moss felt as though the Kirlian method conveyed the energy of its subjects. Her most popular work was published in “The Body Electric” (1979) and “The Probabillity of the Impossible” (1983). Her studies paved the way for other parapsychologist to explore the utility of Kirlian photography to physical energy.