Tesla coils are super cool. But while most of us have only ever encountered the archaic contraptions in museums, if you’ve got some pluck, you can use a portable version to generate your own lightning storms at home.
That, at least, is what photographer Marc Simon Frei has done in this phenomenal series of photographs. Using an 1920s-era electrotherapy device (basically, a mini Tesla coil) that he purchased on Ebay, Frei was able to generate electrical discharges and capture them using a Nikon Df, a macro extension tube, and a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens. No doubt his equipment was put in peril by the electrifying shoot, but the risk seems to have paid off.
My personal favourite is the last — a mini thunderstorm that uses teddy bear guts for clouds. Double props for creativity there.
