Have You Ever Seen An Electric Orange?

Bioluminescence refers to light emitted by living organisms such as fireflies and underwarter creatures, but it might also apply to Caleb Charland's non-Photoshopped photography of glowing fruits.

For the past few years Charland, a Portland, Maine photographer, has been experimenting with the visual outcomes of attaching copper wires to fruits and LEDs, and capturing them with large-format cameras. As futuristic as the shots may seem, they're actually simple in concept and procedure (think of those potato-powered clocks you probably made in middle-school science class with not much more than a few wires). It's the setup and the execution of the actual photography that requires the most time and skill.

In the case of this shot of an energy-producing orange, Charland carefully tucked a wired LED within the wedges of the fruit, which were fixed upright with individual wooden skewers. The exposure time took 14 hours, resulting in awe-inspiring, unenhanced image (again, no Photoshop!) that's both artful and compelling. Think of this radiant orange as "green" energy in its most magical state.

Have You Ever Seen An Electric Orange?

Slow-food movement: Charland's "Orange Battery" photo, taken with a 4x5 large-format camera, required 14 hours of exposure.

Before photographing fruit as both the power source and the light object itself, Charland used bulk produce to illuminate conventional house lamps.

Drawing from nature in the most literal sense, Charland has taken his work outdoors, here in a potato field...

...and in an apple orchard.

More Galleries

10 Burger Recipes For Grilling Inspiration This Weekend

11 Extreme Diets That Will Help You Lose Weight, Possibly Kill You

Our 12 Most Popular Stories This Week

10 Things You Should Know About Dungeness Crab, Currently In Season

Buying Guide: 10 Grills For 10 Guys

Our 15 Favorite Lobster Stories Ever