Kirlian photography

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8萬伏特 玫瑰來「電」
55歲美國攝影師 耗時10年 捕捉80張花卉電擊瞬間
【人間福報綜合外電報導】

現年五十五歲的美國攝影師羅伯‧布特曼（Robert Buelteman）
花費多年心血，以克里安照相術（Kirlian photography）拍攝
出令人驚歎的植物照片。

拍攝過程中，羅伯在這些植物花卉通上八萬伏特的電流，其中的
三組照片，他使用了玫瑰、矮牽牛，甚至大麻。

為了拍攝這些奇特複雜的圖像，在完全黑暗的條件下，他將植物
削薄至半透明，放在底片上，然後在底片上覆蓋一層內涵感光乳
膠的金屬薄板，接通高壓電，讓空氣瞬間電離，形成影像中葉
片、花瓣和幹莖圍繞的藍色煙霧，並在感光乳膠上記錄下被攝物
體的輝光。

接著，羅伯使用頭髮粗細的光學纖維對拍攝結果進行手工上色，
呈現夢幻的視覺效果（之前以克里安照相術拍攝的照片，顏色都
很單調而靈異），不過這部分相當費力，往往一百五十次才能成
功一次。羅伯每周工作至少六十小時，耗時十年，他才拍攝了八
十張作品。

「當人們看到我的攝影作品將會感受到一種衝擊和震撼。世界非
常奇妙，能夠創造出許多讓人們屏息的壯觀景象。我的作品以一
個新的視角觀看世界，它將呈現另一個完全不同的境界。 」

「你可以想像成是畫家在畫布上進行特殊創作，這些植物就像靜
物畫裡那些水果、碗等主題。放置植物的金屬薄板就是畫布，光
學纖維就是畫筆。」羅伯說，另一個理解他創作方法的解釋，就
像用普通相機攝影，只是他手動控制曝光，並讓植物放電的影像
直接感光於相紙上。

為了使成像呈現出更豐富的效果，羅伯在金屬薄板上塗了一層液
體矽酮；為了保證自己生命安全，他在金屬薄板旁架設木框以防
觸電。儘管這些作品看來如此新潮，但羅伯並未使用任何新的拍
攝手法，他所使用的攝影技巧早在一九三九年被發明。

一九三九年，蘇俄技師塞姆揚‧克里安意外發明電暈放電照相
術，以這種技術拍攝的物體，周圍都會出現明顯的發光現象，
這種攝影技術也被稱為克里安照相術、靈光照相術，可應用於醫
療、生物電子實驗。

十五張精彩的傑作：

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/5835462/Robert-Buelteman-creates-amazing-images-by-electrifying-flowers-and-plants.html?image=10

Electrified flowers make astonishing artworks
Flowers were electrified with 80,000 volts of power to
produce dazzling images of the natural world.
15 Jul 2009

Robert Buelteman photographs the plant life while
sending electricity through them.

The result shows roses, petunias, and even cannabis in
astonishing detail.

It has taken the award-winning 55-year-old 10 years to
produce just 80 photos.

Working in complete darkness, he begins by placing his
chosen plant onto a metal board which he then passes
the electrical surge through. He can even pinpoint areas
where he wants to focus the charge using a wand and a
simple car battery.

As his subject lights up with the current, and emits
radiation invisible to the naked eye, intuitive Buelteman
captured the moments by passing a fibre optic cable
back-and-forth over the plant.

The cable emits a beam of white light that is just the
size of a human hair and whatever the miniscule
torch-beam touches, transfers the image onto film.

The blue haze that surrounds every leaf, petal and stalk
is actually gases ionising around them as the plant is
electronically shocked.

To explain the baffling process, Buelteman, from
Montara, California, USA, uses a trusted analogy.

"You just have to imagine it like a painter creating a
picture on canvass," he said. "The plant is the subject
just like the painter's bowl of fruit or the person they
are capturing. The electrified board I place the plants on
is the canvass. The fibre optic cable emitting the
light-beam is my paintbrush.

"Another way to try and understand it is like a normal
photograph on a normal camera, except I am manually
controlling the exposure by hand. In the same way the
image I capture is simply burned onto film."

To give the pictures an added dazzling effect,
Buelteman's aluminium canvass actually floats in liquid
silicone. And to make sure he doesn't get killed in the
process, he erects a protective frame of wood around
his easel.

But despite these being the first pictures of their kind in
his profession, Buelteman says he has in fact invented
nothing and uses a combination of age-old techniques
developed decades ago.

Semyon Kirlian - developer of Kirlian photography -
accidentally found in 1939 that it was possible to
photograph electrical discharges at the edges of objects
if that were being shocked on an electrified plate.

"When people see my work I want them to feel an
awakening. The world is an amazing place and evolution
has created some breathtaking things for us to look at.
For me, art is about looking at the world and all it's
wonder in a new way, seeing something differently."

Buelteman has written about the project and the
techniques he uses in his book Signs of Life.

His works are being bought for a phenomenal five
figures by art collectors.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5834643/Electrified-flowers-make-astonishing-artworks.html