ARTmonday: Albert Koetsier’s X-Rayography

When he was eight years old, Dutch-born artist Albert Koetsier made his own camera using a matchbox and pair of magnifying glasses. At 16 he leased a Dalmeyer top-view camera, and finally at the time he married, go this hands on a 35mm camera, which was quite a feat. While he collected cameras and camera parts, his day job was as an x-ray technician. In 1969,

Koetsier noticed a calendar that had x-ray images of flowers on the wall of a doctor’s office, and was immediately intrigued, thinking it was unnecessary to use such pricey equipment to create them. 

Much later, living in California, Koetsier stumbled across a very old, but fully operable x-ray apparatus that he bought very cheaply. It wasn’t until 1991, years later, that Koetsier developed an x-ray that he considered art-worthy. It was a lizard had drowned in the pool, and coincidentally had a broken leg.

Today, Koetsier creates images of plants and flowers using x-ray photography, a project he calls Beyond Light. Here are some examples of his work, many of which are available as wall murals or digitally printed on canvas.

albert-koetsier-xray-photo-dragonfly

albert-koetsier-xray-photo-horsetail

albert-koetsier-xray-photo-starfish

albert-koetsier-xray-photo-2

albert-koetsier-xray-photo-6

albert-koetsier-xray-photo-pine-tree

albert-koetsier-xray-photo-4

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