The Kirlian technique represents contact photography, where the object is placed in direct contact with the film on a live metal plate. It got its name from Semjon Kirliyan, who accidentally discovered in 1939 that if an object on a photographic plate is connected to a voltage source, an image is formed on the photographic plate. The Kirlian effect or Kirlian photography refers to photographs made using a type of live photogram.
