X-Ray Images of Nick Veasey and Arie van 't Riet

Typically, you won't see the ghostly images of an x-ray unless you've broken a bone, need wisdom teeth removed, or think you swallowed something you shouldn't have. Visual artist Nick Veasey and medical physicist Arie van 't Riet explore the internal nature of nature using the vehicle of x-rays. Take anything, animate or inanimate, fire radiation at it, and you will end up with a delicate skeleton of the object; often just overlaps of density outlined with a whisper of distinction from the black background.

Nick Veasey

"To create these x-ray artworks serious risks and procedural hurdles need to be managed. The results are worth the hassle. X-ray allows us to see what is normally hidden to the human eye. It reveals the subjects from the inside out and allows us to appreciate what the world around us is truly made of.  
In contemporary life, where so much of what we see has been embellished or has a level of artifice, the honesty and integrity the x-ray reveals has a simple, pure elegance. 
In a nutshell, the work is a statement against society’s obsession with superficiality." - Nick Veasey

 

Solo Iris March 2008 C-Type Print 594 x 841mm (23x 33") Edition of 5

Lightbulb March 2006 C-Type Print 594 x 594mm (23x 23") Edition of 10 (inverted)

Jimmy Choo December 2006 C-Type Print 594 x 420mm (23 x 16.5") Edition of 10 

 Kylie's Knickers February 2008C-Type Print 841 x 594mm (33 x 23") Edition of 5

Puffer jacket

 Decks October 2010 C-Type Print 1325 x 594mm (52 x 23") Edition of 5 (colored)

Bus September 1998 C-Type Print 1500 x 600mm (59 x 23.5") Edition of 9
This image was shot in sections then compiled together. Check out the video below for an explanation of how he did it.

Plane July 2001 C-Type Print 2000 x 800mm (79 x 31.5") Edition of 9
The largest x-ray image ever taken, this image is composed of more than 500 individual films, took months to complete, and Veasey photographed each component separately.

Veasey talks about his work in this video from TEDx:

As you can see above in the "Decks" image, Veasey also enjoys colorizing his images to give them a more natural feel. He also creates cyanotypes with the prints, giving them additional depth. Below are some examples of his natural cyanotype prints:

 Conch shell

Cow Parsley

Crab

cyanotype images from here

See more of Veasey's work on his website.
all images © Nick Veasey
via memolition and NickVeasey.com


Arie van 't Riet 

Hailing from a more scientific background, x-ray artist Arie van 't Riet uses the directed radiation to explore the delicateness of nature in what he calls bioramas.

"As a physicist I specialized in radiation physics. Especially in very low energy X-rays. Some years ago I started to use these experience in X-ray photography. An amazing kind of black and white photography. Looking with X-ray eyes to nature. That's what I like to experience with my X-ray camera. I prefer X-ray objects of ordinary scenes like a butterfly nearby a flower, a fish in the ocean, a mouse in the field, a haron along the riverside, a bird in a tree and so on. Each time it is challenging me to arrive at an X-ray photograph that represents the sentiment of the scene, do raise questions and excited curiosity." - Arie van 't Riet

To achieve this unique style of image, he begins with a black-and-white- silver bromide image. Then he digitizes, inverts, and selectively applies color to it on his computer. 
text from inhabitat

 Water lily, marsh marigold, lily leaves, frog

Hanging Begonia, Chameleon 

 Bouquet of tulips

 Snails, tulip field

Poppy, penstemon, rododendron and lizards 

Trachycarpus wagnerianus, azalea, turtles

 Chicken

Tawny owl

all images © Arie van 't Riet
See more of van 't Riet's work on his website.

via inhabitat and mymodernmet

Watch van 't Riet talk about his work here:


Want to see more x-ray images? 
Check out the work of Hugh Tarvey, recently posted on National Geographic.com's blog, PROOF.

images © Hugh Tarvey