Radiography as Art

“Not to reproduce what we can already see, but to make visible what we cannot.”

- Paul Klee, on Art (Rajchman, 2000, p. 124)

Shell X-ray #1 (theorem, 2004)

Radiography is an art. Radiographers become technically artistic when they are innovative or creative in adapting routine procedures (Carlton & Adler, 2006, p.221). Some take the meaning of radiography as art more literally. There are many radiographer-artists who use radiography as an artistic medium. Radiography has been used to produce images of flowers, fruit, shells, fish, and other plants and animals, while some artists capture images of much larger things like airplanes and buses.

17 years after the discovery of x-rays, in 1913, Floral radiography was created and published by P. Goby (Raikes, 2003). In 1925, scientists with access to x-ray machines began producing images for artistic purposes. One of these individuals, Dr. Dain Tasker is seen as a pioneer in the use of x-rays as an artistic medium. Tasker created images of flowers. His radiographs were forgotten. When they were found, they were auctioned in New York for over $25,000 each (Koetsier, n.d.). Still today, individuals with access to radiography equipment create images of objects as art. For example, Flickr users Surfactant and theorem.

Wide Open Lotus (Tasker, n.d.)

Nick Veasey is an artist who has pursued artistic radiography as his métier. He produces work for commercial clients in advertising, as well as sells his works to private buyers. Veasey works out of a lab that is used by day in non-destructive testing of pipes. He doesn’t radiograph anything living because the exposures he uses in order to get high resolution images are minutes long and could induce disease or death in live subjects. 

Plane (Veasey, n.d.)

When Veasey images really large objects, like this Boeing 777, he takes many radiographs, and then stitches them together using photoshop. In order to image objects with varying thicknesses, he images the object at different energies, and then layers the images on top of one another to create the image. Using a higher kV allows for better penetration of the thicker parts of the object, but results in a loss of definition of thinner parts. This can burn out some of the fine details on smaller objects like shells as evident in some amateur shell radiography. 

The people in Veasey’s radiographs are actually all the very same skeleton. In the 60s student radiographers learned to take radiographs using cadavers. Although they are no longer used, Veasey has access to one of these cadavers, who he calls Frieda (Veasey, 2009). Frieda is old, fragile, falling apart, and is held together in a rubber suit (Ridgeway, 2009).

While Veaey’s artistic works are fairly diversified, some artists take a more homogenous approach. William Conklin (1994), published an entire book of radiographs of shells. The internal structure of 49 molluscs and a sand dollar are revealed in his book, The Radiographic World of William Conklin. Shells are a common subject of radiography art. This is likely because of their intricate and beautiful inner structure which is invisible unless the shell is broken or cut open or radiographed. 

Albert Koetsier, another radiographer-artist converts the radiograph negative to a positive, using a projector that he designed himself. He colors the images with translucent paints, similar to those used before color photography was invented to color photographs (Koetsier, n.d.). 

Fragments of Eternity: Tulip Composition (Koetsier, n.d.)

Other radiographer artists include Steven Meyers, Leslie Wright, Hugh Turvey, Albert Richards. 

A radiograph of a flower is best imaged using a small focal spot and 10-50kV with a beryllium window. Standard radiography units operate at a minimum of 60 kV and the inherent filtration removes the desirable lower energy photons. A mammography unit might be more suited than a general unit. However, the highest quality images of these delicate structures are produced using specimen radiographic units. These units are designed for imaging small objects and operate with small focal spots, low kV, low mA, and long exposure times. Using long exposure times and low kV allows for adequate film darkening without changing the penetration or kV of the beam (Raikes, 2003). 

Using screens decreases the resolution of the radiograph. For this reason, using screens can be undesirable in the radiography of small specimens because the detail is seen as beautiful (Raikes, 2003). To image a shell using only a film, an exposure of 12000mAs and 40 kV are used (Surfactant, 2007). Film only detects 0.65% of the incident radiation. Conversely, using a screen-film system at 80kV, about 30% of the incident radiation would be detected by the film (Kanal, 2007).

Artistic radiography uses the same principles we use in medical radiography. However, it is done with a different objective. While those performing artistic radiography seek to create a new way of seeing, those performing diagnostic radiography seek to identify the presence or lack of disease or abnormality. Nevertheless, both make the invisible visible.

Carlton, R. R., & Adler, A. M. (2006). Principles of radiographic imaging: An art and a science, 4th ed. United States of America: Thompson Delmar Learning

Conchologists of America, inc. (2010). Book reviews: Inner Dimensions, The Radiographic World of William Bonklin, by William Conklin. Retrieved from http://www.conchologistsofamerica.org/articles/reviews/9512.asp#c

Conklin, W. (1994). Inner Dimensions: The Radiographic World of William Conklin. Wrs Pub.

Kanal, K. (2007). Screen-Film Radiography. Retrieved from http://courses.washington.edu/radxphys/Lectures07-08/Screen-Film_Radiography-070823.pdf

Koetsier, A. (n.d.) Beyond Light: The Art of X-rayography. Retrieved from http://www.beyondlight.com/whatis.html

McMillan, J. (2001). The X-ray art of photographer Judith McMillan. Retrieved from http://www.judithkmcmillan.com/

Rajchman, J. (2000). The Deleuze connections. United States of America: MIT Press

Raikes, M. C. (2003). Floral radiography: Using X rays to Create Fine Art. Radiographics, 23(5), 1149-1154.

Ridgeway, A. (2009, March). X-treme X-ray. BBC Focus Magazine. 60-66.

Surfactant. (2007). Nautilius. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/roentgenator/1386363985/in/set-72157601198404570/

Tasker, D. (n.d.). Wide Open Lotus.  Still Life. Panopticon Gallery. Retrieved from http://www.panopt.com/images-new.php?c=3

Veasey, N. (2009). Nick Veasey: Exposing the invisible. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/nick_veasey_exposing_the_invisible_1.html

Veasey, N (n.d.). X-RAY. Retrieved from http://www.nickveasey.com/ 

The Origin of the Radiological Technologist

Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?
- Gauguin

We all know how the story of X-rays began. Remember? On November 8, 1895, Roentgen was in his lab, passing electrical current through a Hittorf tube which was completely contained within a black cardboard box. He was testing the box for light tightness and before he had the chance to test the penetration of cathode rays through the wall of the tube, he noticed the barium platinocyanide screen glowing from across the room (Dewing, 1962, p.28). The rest is history. In a sense, Roentgen was the first radiological technologist.

Roentgen published the first paper on “A New Kind of Rays” in the Wurzburg Physical-Medical Society’s 1895 volume of “Transactions”. Within a few days, newspapers all over the world were announcing the discovery (Dewing, 1962, p.32). Almost everybody was interested in Roentgen’s discovery. Many were reproducing his experiment, everyone from the layman to the professional.

In 1896, the first textbook on radiography was published, “Practical Radiography” by H. S. Ward (Kelves, 1997, p. 304). Also in 1896, books were being published for the general reader (Trevert, 1896/1988). In the beginning, many people were practicing radiography including physicians, physicists, engineers, electricians, nurses, hospital orderlies, photographers, and con artists. By 1905, physicians had gained control of the practice of radiography (Dewing, 1962, p.83). Although, these physicians did employ assistants who worked with them in imaging patients (Dewing, 1962, p.84).

The profession of the Radiographer had been born. In 1896, Elizabeth Fleischmann became a pioneering radiographer. Fleischmann mastered the technique of radiography within a year. She opened the first X-ray laboratory in California. She was the only professional radiographer advertised in the state of California until 1910 (Palmquist, 1990). Fleischmann’s work was noted by the surgeon general to have “nice adjustment of the ray according to the density or character of the object when she desires to photograph” (Kelves, 1997, p.41). She took radiographs from a variety of angles in order to locate the injury more precisely in space (Kelves, 1997).

Fleischmann examining a patient with a fluoroscope (Palmquist, 1990).

In 1935, the formal training of student radiographers began in New South Wales in an “attempt to raise the standard of X-ray technical work and to give the skilled radiographers an adequate status” (Bentley, 2005, p. 45). This training was primarily practical. The first theoretical training began in 1917. In the 1930s, students were to complete 500 radiographic procedures unaided. In 1945, students were required 2 years of training before being able to write the examination. In time, training programs moved from hospital-based programs, into technical colleges (Bentley, 2005).

Today, many training programs have moved into Universities as an undergraduate degree, while some remain in colleges. Additionally, some Universities offer graduate level studies geared towards radiological technologists. The professional roles of radiological technologists vary geographically. Nonetheless, it is constant that the role is continually changing.

To understand the present you must understand the past. History shows us where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.

Bentley, H. B. (2005). Early days of radiography. Radiography, 11, 45-50.

Dewing, S. B. (1962). Modern Radiology in Historical Perspective. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas Publisher

Kelves, B. (1997). Naked to the Bone: Medical Imaging in the Twentieth Century. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press

Palmquist, P. E. (1990). Elizabeth Fleischmann: A Tribute. Retrieved from http://www.cla.purdue.edu/WAAW/palmquist/Photographers/FleischmannEssay.htm

Trevert, E. (1988). Something About X-rays for Everybody. Madison, WI: Medical Physics Publishing Corporation (Original work published 1896. Lynn, MA: Bubier Publishing)

Radiological Technology on the Internet

In February, 2009, Seth Godin expressed the idea that the Internet has enabled the re-creation of the human social unit from the past, the tribe. According to Godin, the Internet has allowed people with some common interest or goal, who would otherwise not have found each other, to connect and talk about things that they care about. 


There are many resources for information on the Internet, which are not so different from books or journal articles. They are unchanging, one-way modes of communication. Many of us have taken online courses, which are sometimes interactive, but the forced interaction of a limited group oppresses the potential of the interaction. I am primarily interested in the ways in which people are interacting with each other on their own will. This occurs on what is referred to as the read/write web. The Internet has changed the flow of information from unidirectional, to multidirectional. Readers can respond directly to authors to create discussion (Land & Bayne, 2005). The red/write web consists of Blogs, Wikis, social bookmarking, RSS feeds, podcasts, and other forms including those that have yet to be invented (Richardson, 2006).

So, is there a radiological technology community that connects on the Internet? Yes.

Firstly, there are websites where people can meet to talk about radiological technology. For example, Radiology Forums is simply a website where users make posts to participate in discussions. Radiolopolis and Radiography Students are similar, they have forums, but also have more complicated features including instant messaging, groups, and case studies.

Wikiradiography is similar to the popular site Wikipedia. They are wikis. A wiki is an encyclopedia that anyone can edit at any time. Wikiradiography is far from being a complete encyclopedia, but the amount of content available on the site is astounding. The site also allows communication between users in the form of messages and forums. Radiopaedia is another useful wiki with a focus on Radiology. Some may worry that the information in wikis is unreliable and do not think they should be used as an academic tool. They are correct, in my opinion, to a certain extent. Content in wikis may not be a credible source to reference. However, almost all the information in Wikiradiography and Wikipedia is referenced, so you can easily find the original source to verify the accuracy and reference.

There is a proliferation of diverse blogs, including technologist blogs (Juney’s World, X-Rayted, Topics in Radiography, Mountain Imaging, Radiologic Confidential, X-Ray Rocks, Radiology Ramblings), student blogs (Divergent Rays, RT Wannabe) instructor blogs (Lessons in Radiography, The X-ray Chic, Radiology 101), radiologist blogs (Ummara Shares, Scan Man’s Notes, RadGirl Radiology Blog, A Radiology Geek's Blog, Nuclear Vision, Sumer’s Radiology Site), corporate blogs (The DR Blog), and PACS blogs (PACS World,  Dalai's PACS Blog). On the Internet, a new blog is created every second, but two thirds of all blogs go for more than 2 months without being updated (Richardson, 2006). This holds true for blogs in the radiological technology domain. Most of these blogs have not been updated for quite some time.

The connections made through the read/write web are unique because they bridge gaps in space and time. Users can converse with other users anywhere with Internet access. Conversations can occur over longer periods of time. The Internet allows a shift in focus from the transmission of information, to the negotiation of information (Land & Bayne, 2005). Additionally, all users are created equally, giving rise to a democratic playing field and promoting Socratic questioning. Through all of this, a group of people with similar interests, become a community through the interactions they create.

Godin, S. (2009). Seth Godin on the Tribes We Lead. Retrieved from  http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead.html

Land, R., & Bayne, S. (2005).  Education in Cyberspace. New York, NY: RoutledgeFalmer.

Richardson, W. (2006).  Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

About This Blog

Hi. My name is Elise. I’m a 4th year student doing a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Radiological Technology. 

This is a blog I started as a school project. This is the first post. My goal with this blog is to share information about things that are interesting and relevant to the field of radiological technology, as well as incite discussion online among the radiological technology community.