Tesla doesn't seem to have entirely endorsed the procedure: > To give an idea of the magnitude of the discharge the experimenter is sitting slightly behind the

Tesla doesn't seem to have entirely endorsed the procedure: > To give an idea of the magnitude of the discharge the experimenter is sitting slightly behind the "extra coil". I did not like this idea but some people find such photographs interesting. Of course, the discharge was not playing when the experimenter was photographed, as might be imagined! https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tesla_colorado_adjusted.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tesla_colorado_adjus... If the only issue was one of lighting it, I don't know why he'd express reservations. He says that it was only done to give a sense of scale, not to demonstrate safety ("of course" he wasn't actually sitting there- why "of course" if not for the issue of safety?). If he'd wanted to defend the image on the basis of being basically accurate (ie if he really did have a habit of hanging around next to his apparatus in full force) then it seems like he'd have mentioned it. Why would he "not like" such an image if he didn't think it was a little deceptive? This book reads it exactly the same way: > Perhaps the most memorable image was of Tesla calmly reading a book in front of a deluge of sparks; yet this photograph proved little about the inventor’s experiments. Alley had cleverly used a double exposure since it would have been too dangerous for the scientist to actually sit so close to such an electrical storm. Tesla later admitted, “The streamers were first impressed upon the plate in dark or feeble light, then the experimenter placed himself on the chair and an exposure to arc light was made and, finally, to bring out the features and other detail, a small flash powder was set off.”54 The publicity-conscious experimenter claimed he didn’t like such trick photography, but he argued, unconvincingly, that “some people find such photographs interesting.” https://nvhrbiblio.nl/biblio/boek/Munson%20-%20Tesla%20inventor%20of%20the%20modern.pdf https://nvhrbiblio.nl/biblio/boek/Munson%20-%20Tesla%20inven... This guy hanging around a Tesla coil at point blank range seems to be taking some precautions in the form of a full-body Faraday cage: https://www.flickr.com/photos/colorstream/3379339449 https://www.flickr.com/photos/colorstream/3379339449