High-Voltage Pictures

These striking and unusual pictures were made without the use of a photographic camera. Objects of various kinds were simply placed on photographic plates in a darkened room and connected by wire to a high-voltage coil. Current was then passed through them at a voltage of 100,000 and more, causing them to emanate coronas of electrical discharges. The coronas were registered on plates, resulting in the pictures reproduced.

Mechanics Illustrated
July, 1945