David Bowie made Kirlian Photography

David Bowie made Kirlian Photography

On November 3rd 1975, David Bowie – in the final stages of recording his legendary album Station to Station – took possession of a strange Kirlian device. Bowie was at this time heavily into the occult; the artwork of Station to Station would feature an image of him sketching the Kabbalistic Tree of Life on the floor (I discussed Bowie’s esoteric interests in “Occult Rock: The Influence of Magick on Modern Music“), so this was no doubt a welcome gift.

David Bowie and Kirlian Photography
David Bowie and Kirlian Photography

he Kirlian device, given to Bowie by Dr. Thelma Moss at the Dept. of Parapsychology at UCLA, was a Kirlian Photograph Machine. It was based on technology developed over the past 75 years by Czech and Russian researchers that had not become popular in the West until the 1970s: the creation of images by placing objects on sheet photographic film sitting atop a metal discharge plate. When a high voltage was quickly applied to the object, it would create an exposure on the film via electrical coronal discharge.

Full Story about David Bowie and Kirlian Photography, here

SEE ALSO:

GDVCAMERA HISTORY

BIOELECTROGRAPHY HISTORY

GDVCAMERA GENERATIONS

KIRLIAN CAMERA HISTORY