Albert Koetsier
Albert Koetsier is a Dutch artist who uses x-rays to create art. Rather than pursue a formal education in art, he preferred to experiment. Koetsier is revered for his x-ray photos of flowers and shells.
Albert Koetsier’s life is nothing short of inspiring. His true love of photography, combined with his perseverance, resourcefulness, artistic eye, and mechanical abilities, enables him to produce vibrantly detailed photographs that give the viewer a new perspective on common subjects. By the age of eight, Koetsier was already enthralled by the concept of photography. That he could not afford a camera, let alone the other necessary equipment, never deterred him. He built his own camera at age ten by using a matchbox, two magnifying lenses, a photosensitive medium, and a homemade spring-loaded shutter. He was fearless in his experimentation, and photographic paper was expensive. Therefore, Koetsier chose to expose his shots immediately rather than risk overexposure by using a shutter. His darkroom was a small cabinet, and his mother’s teacups doubled as vessels for his developer and fixer. He never lost hope that he would someday own a real camera. When Koetsier was sixteen, his father acquired a top-view Dallmeyer camera, albeit with a poor lens. A few years and many odd jobs later, Koetsier was able to afford a better lens, which he used for a projector he built to develop photographs. Koetsier’s brother, while stationed in Germany in the 1970s, purchased a 35-millimeter camera for his sibling, but the apparatus was confiscated by a Dutch border patrol officer. The next day, the brothers donned farm clothes and returned to the officer explaining they desperately needed the camera to record Koetsier’s impending wedding. The officer, having come from a poor farming family himself, agreed to return the camera. Koetsier thanked the officer by inviting him to the wedding. Around this time, Koetsier began collecting camera parts, and he now owns some of the first cameras ever made. He wed his soulmate, Anne, and graduated from a technical university in Hilversum. Koetsier then began working as an x-ray technician for Phillips Medical Systems. He also pursued his hobby of photography.
CAREER
Albert Koetsier uses photography to tell a story, with his subjects ranging from people and plants to towns and landscapes. On a trip to Wurzburg in 1969, he saw a calendar with images of x-rayed flowers hanging in a doctor’s office, and he vowed to make a similar calendar for himself someday, despite the exorbitant cost of x-rays. Moving to California in 1979 allowed Koetsier to devote extra time to his photography. Three years later, he came across an old but operational x-ray machine and was able to purchase it for very little money. Using his spare-parts collection and mechanical ingenuity, he coaxed the machine to x-ray various ordinary objects he found in his yard. However, he was forced to set aside his hobby after a change in his work situation. Koetsier’s first art-worthy x-ray was done in 1991, which occurred accidentally. He x-rayed a drowned lizard he found in his pool, as he suspected foul play involving his cat in the creature’s death. Indeed, as he discovered, the lizard had suffered a broken leg. Koetsier mounted the photo and wrote on the frame, “lizard with a broken leg.” A visiting friend saw the photograph and offered Koetsier money for it. Koetsier’s motivation is not monetary, however. Investigation and discovery fuel his passion. He believes investigating art keeps it from stagnating. His ambition is to understand culture through his photography. The artist’s early photos show prowess with black-and-white photography. His x-ray photographs are displayed in black and white as well as in color. These works mainly depict the intricacies of flowers, as seen in Lonely Tulip on Black and Pink Eucalyptus, and tiny shells, as with Moon Snails Pair in Brown and Neon Nautilus. His x-rayography, as he dubbed his art, displays great detail and instills a sense of wonder in viewers.
FUN FACTS
- Because he uses x-ray machines, Koetsier’s photographs can be enlarged many times without loss of detail.
- Koetsier routinely gives lectures, and his photos have won several awards.
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