Kirilian  photography is a way of taking pictures popular in New Age circles. The term actually refers to two different techniques. One is a pure photogram where items are placed on an electrified plane and the film exposes through small “corona discharges” of the field interacting with the object. This were used as early as 1939 and was used by various scientists throughout the twentieth century including Nikola Tesla. The pictures supposedly vary by the energy field of its subject; David Bowie one used it and said he saw a noticeable difference in the Kirilian photographs of his finger and a cross before and after using cocaine.

The second technique relates more with portraiture, combining the photogram technique with a polaroid process. An electrified pad is given to the subject which they rest their hands on which creates a color based on the feedback receied by hte censor. A regular polar is exposed by this at the same time creating a photo of someone with an “aura.” Similar to a mood ring, one’s aura color supposedly provides information on the emotional and physical health of the subject.

http://www.auraenergyphotos.com/pages/auras.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirlian_photography