╳ Albert Koetsier is an inspiration to all of us who dream of transforming the ‘ordinary’ into the ‘extraordinary’. Who is this genius and what is X-rayography? He is an award-winning Photographer, or more specifically an X-rayographer, who was by trade an X-ray Technician, but turned his passion for art and nature into a second career after retirement. Mr Koetsier, born in Vassen, Holland lived there until 1979, and after being transferred from Europe to the U.S. found and purchased an old, discarded X-ray machine that gave him perfect results and is the one he still uses today. The technique he uses, X-rayography, is the art of employing X-ray technology to reveal the beauty that lies behind the gorgeous facades of nature.
╳ Born in 1942, Koetsier began his career in photography at age eight by building his first camera. “ I was always working with mechanics,” he recalls, “and actually building that first camera was quite simple. At that time, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, wristwatches had little springs inside. I used one of these little pieces from a wristwatch as a shutter. I made pictures with negatives that were about a square centimeter, or about a 1⁄4” square. I also built an enlarger to enlarge them to a more reasonable size.”
╳ Because X-ray film has a contrast ratio 10 times greater than normal photographic film, Koetsier makes his X-ray pictures by using filters to lower the contrast of his prints and by extensive and continuous dodging and burning of the print during exposure. “Just to give you an example,” Koetsier says, “when I print certain negatives, part of the paper needs only 10 seconds of exposure, while other parts of the paper might need hundreds of seconds of exposure. This means I’m continuously dodging and burning the print by moving my hands around over the print. Because I have to use film that is not made for printing, it’s pretty nerve-wracking work.”
╳ Koetsier places a variety of objects in front of his X-ray camera, then in total darkness he creates his truly unique images. “ I may be the only artist who has a federal (FDA) authorisation to make X-rays at home as art,” jokes the highly sought-after artist. After careful selection (usually only one out of 10 images makes the grade) Koetsier colours the negatives with the same paints used to tint black and white postcards a century ago, and the results, a perfect marriage between ‘art’ and ‘technology’.
