David Bowie and 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 USED KIRLIAN PHOTOGRAPHY TO CHECK HIS AURA BEFORE AND AFTER TAKING COCAINE
The 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.
David Bowie’s Kirlian Photography Machine
Source: DavidBowie.com
Many in the New Age community, especially those into alternative health and bio-energy fields, believed that Kirlian photography was imaging the ‘aura’ of objects, and might be useful for diagnosing illnesses or other pathologies of the body energy (and/or soul). And Bowie wasn’t the only rock icon to become enamoured with the technology: the cover of ex-Beatle George Harrison’s 1973 album Living in the Material World featured a Kirlian photograph of Harrison’s hand holding a Hindu medallion.
David Bowie’s Kirlian photography
Bowie’s interest in Kirlian photography seems to have persisted beyond the 1970s though – the image of his fingertip was reproduced in the album booklet for his 1997 album Earthling, and as the cover art for the single “Little Wonder“. And if you’d like to hear it from the proverbial horse’s mouth, he discussed it in this short video around the same time:
In 1975, Thelma Moss of UCLA’s parapsychology lab gifted David Bowie a Kirlian photography machine to capture images of peoples’ “auras.” This machine generates a high-voltage field to a photographic plate resulting in a glowing corona discharge image of whatever is positioned on the plate. The color, shape, and intensity of the image is affected by myriad factors, from humidity to how well the object is grounded to, or, in the case of people, the amount of oil and sweat on the skin. But of course Bowie was into the occult and other high weirdness so the possibility of photographing one’s “aura” appealed to him.
From the Daily Grail: David Bowie’s interest in Kirlian photography was evident: some of the photos that resulted from his experimentation with the technique were published in the program for his 1976 tour in support of Station to Station. And he used it to try and understand what was happening to his body when he took drugs: he compared two Kirlian photographs of his fingertip (beside a crucifix given to him by his father), one image taken before consuming cocaine, the other after.
Bowie liked the image so much that he used it in the booklet of Earthling (1997) and as the cover art for the “Little Wonder” single.
David Bowie and Kirlian Photography
Little Wonder Lyrics
Stinky weather fat, shaky hands
Dopey morning doc, grumpy gnomes
Little wonder then, little wonder
You little wonder, little wonder you
Big screen dolls, and explosions
Sleepy time bashful but nude
Little wonder then, little wonder
You little wonder, little wonder you
Enter galactic see me to be you
It’s all in the tablets sneezy bhutan
Little wonder then, little wonder
You little wonder, little wonder you
Mars happy nation sit on my karma
Dame meditation take me away
Little wonder then, little wonder
You little wonder, little wonder you
Sending me, so far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
Little wonder, little wonder you
Little wonder, little wonder you
Sending me, so far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
So far away, so far away
Little wonder, little wonder you
Little wonder, little wonder you
You little wonder, little wonder you
Little wonder then, little wonder
You little wonder, little wonder you
Songwriters: David Bowie / Mark Plati / Reeves Gabrels
Little Wonder lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc
David Bowie 1997 Birthday Concert MSG
David Bowie and Kirlian Photography
David Bowie and Kirlian Photography
DAVID BOWIE USED KIRLIAN PHOTOGRAPHY TO CHECK HIS AURA BEFORE AND AFTER TAKING COCAINE
KIRLIAN PHOTOGRAPHY AS ART AND SCIENCE
Dear Sir, Madam
Thank you for your e mail reply that lead to further searches linked leading me here.
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Kind regards
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