The process starts when Robert Buelteman selects a living plant and takes it back into his specially fitted photographic studio; after which a creative process begins by sculpting the plant material and opacity.
The plants material is then moved into the darkroom to manipulate the subject onto an imaging easel - the easel is surrounded by a safety fence of wood so as to avoid electrocution but in essence it is composed of an aluminium sheet floating in a solution of liquid silicone, held in place by two sheets of Plexiglas.
In total darkness, Robert then goes on to building an exposure matrix on top of the easel and a colour transparency film is laid flat on the surface with the light sensitive paper facing upwards.
The plants material is then placed onto the film, either with or without separate layers of diffusion material, it is wired to a grounding source by cable and clamp; high frequency, high voltage electricity is then passed through the plant to begin the exposure process - a blue aura of ionised gas that surrounds the subject is created.
A variety of light sources including xenon-strobe, tungsten, and fiber-optic light are used to illuminate the subject by hand so the light is scattered through the diffusion screens, through the subject, and onto the film where the exposure energy is recorded.
Robert developed this method of imaging in March of 1999, but says that the component parts have a long and well-known history.
The essence of Buelteman's method is recognised as “Kirlian Photography”, and the electrical component of his method is associated with Russian scientists, Semyon and Valentina Kirlian.
The technique is as old as photography itself, having been used by Henry Fox Talbot in 1834 in early experiments with silver-nitrate paper that is considered by many to be the birth of photography.
Robert has introduced fiber-optical devices to provide a greater degree of control in the delivery of the exposure energy and adds his own interpretation to the art form.
The first picture is of Eucalyptus polyanthemos and the second id of Robert in his hi-tech Montara studio.
Images reproduced with the permission of Robert Buelteman"
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