If you had x-ray vision, this is what a rose and a seashell would look like! Photographer Don Dudenbostel has used x-rays to show us the incredible beauty and very delicate parts of flowers, seashells and other objects.

About Don Dudenbostel
Don was been interested in photography as an art form since childhood. He began his career at an early age with his father and grandfather who were accomplished amateur photographers.

Also serious about science, he found a way to combine art and science for a high school science fair project in the 1960’s. He developed a friendship with an engineer with General Electric X-Ray who introduced him to radiographic imaging. With the help of the G.E. engineer, Don built his first x-ray apparatus from a variety of discarded parts. The system used very low penetration soft x-rays that do not overly penetrate the soft, delicate structure of the plants. Don exposes the hidden beauty of seashells with his translucent x-ray photography, which exudes a unique ethereal quality.

While on assignment for the University of Tennessee Beacon newspaper in 1969, Don photographed a student hidden in the bushes behind a row of riot police. That photograph eventually made its way into a 1970 issue of Esquire magazine and it also became one of Esquire's top photos of the year. Don was also published in Newsweek as well as other national publications. While in college, he was featured in two solo exhibitions of his photography at the University of Tennessee.

In 1975 he was fortunate to study with Ansel Adams at his home in Yosemite National Park.

Don was now well into his professional career and had entered regional and national competitions and received numerous awards including three Kodak Gallery Awards. A number of these award-winning images were included in international touring exhibitions. He received his Tennessee Professional Certification in 1981, as well as his Master of Photography degree through the Professional Photographers of America in 1985.

The Technique of Creating Radiographs and Fine Art Prints
The process of producing these radiographs is challenging. The equipment used for floral images is very different from traditional medical x-ray equipment in that it is comprised of various components obtained from discarded equipment, whereas, for the shells and tin toys, I am using traditional medical equipment. High speed photographic films and medical mammography film is used. The specimen is placed directly on top of the film in the position required to see the image. An x-ray tube is placed directly above the specimen. An appropriate energy ranging from 4KV to 150KV (KV is 1,000 volts) is applied to the tube, resulting in exposures ranging from half a second to 15 minutes. These radiographic negatives are developed in the traditional photographic method using a higher contrast developer. The resulting negatives have a very long tonal scale and are not well suited to the traditional photographic print process. Because of this, I will then take the negative, make a very high-resolution digital scan, and make refinements on my computer. The resulting file is then printed using a digital archival carbon printing system. The images produced are 100% carbon pigment based printed on the highest quality acid-free rag watercolor paper. The pigments contain no dyes, which results in a truly archival print with exquisite tonality and color. These prints have been referred to as a modern-day gravure process. They have a greater longevity than traditional silver gelatin prints. Tests have indicated a life span of greater than 100 years.