Floral X-Ray Fine Art
Another artistic exploration through science.
A friend recently showed me some Fine Art work created by few artists in the US (believe it or not some early photos of this techniques come from 1930s). It was so interesting, I had to try.
First challenge was to get access to an x-ray machine. Tried a few places but an orthopedic surgeon friend let me work with his junior doctor while there were no patients on Sunday afternoon to try a few things. Which I did.
Second challenge was working with really small jpeg outputs. Then I found that the DICOM files which scans generate can also be used. Still not a lot to play with. Also the scans come out low contrast or just wash out the thin membranes so many of the flowers get ruled out.
Lastly, honest grunt work in Photoshop converting the blochy x-ray images into art. Black and white ones look good but on some, light color shade looks nice too (which are selectively colored on a separate layer).
But it's lot of fun to be able to show the intricate beauty inside a flower. I will keep trying more whenever I get access to the x-ray machine and find good flowers / material to experiment.
Hopefully will build a small collection like other science-and-art explorations in high speed water drop / crystal microscope photography etc. I managed to build over the years. Let's see.
For now, keep your feedback / ideas coming.
