ABOUT KIRLIAN PHOTOGRAPHY
Electrophotography, as pioneered by Semyon and Valentina Kirlian, uses electricity to excite, and then photograph, conductive objects. The results can be truly amazing, or a serious blow to one’s self-esteem.
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In other words, this style of photography is a minefield of hard problems. Each must be solved for individually, then geared to operate as a whole. The tricky part is firing this deranged device several hundred times each minute and not electrocuting yourself, which can be a real buzz-kill.
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They say Kirlian photography is like Astrophotography, except in miniature, as long as you have enough caffeine in your belly to drop an elephant. And this is an understatement.
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First, there is barely any light. What light there is, it's only emitted from the object itself, in the form of a corona, as power is applied. This means you must grab every photon you can from this eerie glow and block out any brightness that feels differently. A dark room, therefore, another understatement.
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And, since photons are so precious in the Kirlian method, the camera needs to be as close as possible to the object. So good luck focusing AND finding an aperture that can still make a black hole blush.
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Oh, and since every camera now has digital components, all that EMF spraying out of your high voltage power source will eventually do a number on any silicon delicacies in the immediate vicinity. Fix this before it’s too late and remember - try not to die in the process.
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Once past these uglies don’t worry - there are plenty more. Ample ammo for the inner artist to feed on, crack open the skull, see beyond.
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A task this formidable is its own reward.
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The video below may have a dramatic tone but it provides a great visual for what's going on with Kirlian Photography - and what surprises you are likely to find.
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ABOUT Ancient rock art
Ancient rock art is found on every continent and is a treasured artifact left by indigenous peoples in the form of petroglyphs (carved) or pictographs (painted). This was the preferred medium, beyond spoken traditions and local craft work, and lives on for thousands of years.
These ancient depictions and messages are about many things - stories of hunting, of song, of remembered fights and crushing defeats - or visual depictions of nations and places of importance. And then there are the mind-melts - the visuals that break the head. Dancing shamans and magical workings - fragments of the quest for vision - and what was witnessed in the mind and the dark sky above.
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Over the last 3 decades I traveled to hundreds of these locations in the American Southwest, seeking out the elusive and the well known. I have found that each panel and each image, well-traveled or not, holds mystery. They seem to ignite an inner thirst for more - more understanding, more clarity, more reverence. Experience enough of this art and the thirst becomes bottomless.
