Incredible Images Of Electricity (PHOTOS): Hiroshi Sugimoto's 'Lightning Fields'

Forget acrylics and oils. Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto works with electricity.

Using hundreds of thousands of electric volts, a metal table, and negatives, Sugimoto captures the sparks, movement, and dynamism of electric charge in his 'Lightning Fields' series. (see photos below)

Wired explains how Sugimoto creates his photos:

He wields a Van de Graaff generator to send up to 400,000 volts through film to a metal table. The resulting fractal branching, subtle feathering, and furry whorls call to mind vascular systems, geologic features, and trees. "I see the spark of life itself, the lightning that struck the primordial ooze," Sugimoto says.

Sugimoto writes in a description of his work,

The idea of observing the effects of electrical discharges on photographic dry plates reflects my desire to re-create the major discoveries of these scientific pioneers in the darkroom and verify them with my own eyes.

(via Wired)

Images © Hiroshi Sugimoto, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco