It’s officially 2022, and instead of the endless resolutions and self-improvement projects that plague our minds every time the calendar hits January, why not have an aura check-in with yourself. Artist Eleni Nikoletsos, Vancouver’s only aura photographer (Hello Aura), has captured people’s energy in luminous colours that make for beautiful portraits since 2019.

Nikoletsos explains how aura photography works:

“Aura photography is done with a special camera developed in the ‘70s, which uses biofeedback receptors on your palms to scan and measure the electromagnetic field of the body through acupressure points on the palms of your hands. The algorithm transforms that electromagnetic input into bright colours that correspond with our bodies’ energy channels [also known as chakras]. The beauty of this technology is capturing our energy at that moment. I like to look at it as a check-in as what we’re feeling and going through right now.”

Capturing the cloud-like glow of your aura is a brief moment in time, but the colours can also reveal the energy you’re leaving behind, the energy you’re moving towards, and the present moment you’re experiencing within yourself—a validating experience, affirming your energy and emotions in an instant.

A key part of what interests Nikoletsos about aura photography is how they can document our lives. She wants to hold onto these feelings and moments in time—finding herself nostalgic in the present moment. “I’ve always been obsessive over how I want to archive and hold onto my life.”

At the start of the pandemic, Nikoletsos did an energy and documentation experiment by doing weekly aura photos of herself after going through a pandemic-induced breakup and moving back home to live with her family in Toronto for four months. At first, the colours were muted and muddy, but soon she found joy and special moments with her family, and her aura colours expanded vibrantly.

She then experimented with aura photos of her taken by her brother, mom, and dad—one after the other, only a few moments apart. “I didn’t move; we didn’t open the photos between each snap. My brother photographed me first, then my mom, and then my dad. The colours that came up are typically the ones that show up for me, but the colours were different for each photo. My brother’s photo of me was all blue, with my mom it was all green, and with my dad magenta,” says Nikoletsos. This experiment illustrated how auras can shift into similar and complementary energies around the people we spend time with.

Through archiving the hundreds of photos Nikoletsos has taken of others over the past few years, she’s also begun to notice interesting aura patterns. Two significant factors that can affect auras are geography and seasons.

“I did a pop-up in Tofino this fall and last, and there was so much white coming through; the energy was so expansive and bright. To me, this is the nature of Tofino with the connection to the ocean and trees. You can feel it when you’re there but to see it show up consistently on so many auras was very cool,” says Nikoletsos.

Seasonally, Nikoletsos has been seeing a consistent energetic shift from the lower chakra colours of red, orange, and yellow in the Spring to the upper chakra colours of blue, indigo, and violet in the Winter. The colours in the Spring represent vibrancy and action, while the colours in the winter shift to introspection and intuition.

Aura photos are not just stunning portraits but also remind us that our energy is shifting and flowing all the time. Energy attracts energy, after all.

Follow Nikoletsos on Instagram and book your aura photo and reading here.