Aura photography, the trend that turns your “energy” into a rainbow portrait, has landed in Charlotte.
Why it matters:Black Moon Co. owner Alexia Byrd says she has the first aura camera in Charlotte, and she’s hosting pop-ups around the city so you can try it for yourself.
Context: Online, “aura” has become Gen Z shorthand for someone’s intangible cool factor. Aura photography takes that idea literally, translating supposed energy into color.
- We tried it at a recent pop-up at The Bag Lady in Elizabeth.
How it works: Participants sit in front of a vintage-style camera and place their hands on two biofeedback sensors. Thirty seconds later, the camera produces a Polaroid.
- As the photo develops, colors will bloom around your portrait.
- Then, Byrd interprets them for you.
Each color corresponds to traits and chakras (energy centers in the body). A blue hue near your throat? Byrd says you’ve been using your “throat chakra. In other words, she says, you’re a yapper.
- Red around the head can mean stress or overthinking. Purple aligns with creativity and intuition.
- Sometimes people see small circles of light, too. Byrd calls them “orbs,” often interpreted as spirit guides.
The other side: There’s no scientific consensus on the existence of spiritual auras.
- The camera measures subtle things like skin conductivity and temperature, and software translates that data into the colorful glow layered onto your portrait.
- How those colors are interpreted is subjective.
What they’re saying: “It’s just seeing it for yourself,” Byrd says about the experience. “Even skeptics will watch the whole process…and then they’re like, ‘Okay, yeah, I want one too.'”…