Nick Veasey: Exposing the invisible

57,167 views ・ 2010-01-05

TED


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:15
So, 120 years ago,
0
15260
4000
00:19
Dr. RΓΆntgen X-rayed his wife's hand.
1
19260
2000
00:21
Quite why he had to pin her fingers to the floor
2
21260
3000
00:24
with her brooch, I'm not sure. It seems a bit extreme to me.
3
24260
3000
00:27
That image was the start of the X-ray technology.
4
27260
3000
00:30
And I'm still fundamentally using the same principles today.
5
30260
3000
00:33
I'm interpreting it in a more contemporary manner.
6
33260
4000
00:37
The first shot I ever did
7
37260
4000
00:41
was of a soda can, which was to promote a brand that we all know,
8
41260
3000
00:44
so I'm not going to do them any favors by showing you it.
9
44260
2000
00:46
But the second shot I did was my shoes I was wearing on the day.
10
46260
3000
00:49
And I do really like this shot, because
11
49260
2000
00:51
it shows all the detritus that's sort of embedded
12
51260
2000
00:53
in the sole of the sneakers.
13
53260
2000
00:55
It was just one of those pot-luck things where you
14
55260
2000
00:57
get it right first time.
15
57260
2000
00:59
Moving on to something a bit larger,
16
59260
2000
01:01
this is an X-ray of a bus.
17
61260
2000
01:03
And the bus is full of people.
18
63260
2000
01:05
It's actually the same person. It's just one skeleton.
19
65260
2000
01:07
And back in the '60s,
20
67260
2000
01:09
they used to teach student radiographers
21
69260
2000
01:11
to take X-rays, thankfully not on you and I,
22
71260
2000
01:13
but on dead people.
23
73260
2000
01:15
So, I've still got access to one of these dead people
24
75260
2000
01:17
called Frieda; she's falling apart, I'm afraid,
25
77260
3000
01:20
because she's very old and fragile.
26
80260
2000
01:22
But everyone on that bus is Frieda.
27
82260
2000
01:24
And the bus is taken with a cargo-scanning X-ray,
28
84260
3000
01:27
which is the sort of machine you have on borders,
29
87260
2000
01:29
which checks for contraband and drugs and bombs and things.
30
89260
4000
01:33
Fairly obvious what that is.
31
93260
3000
01:36
So, using large-scale objects
32
96260
2000
01:38
does sort of create drama
33
98260
2000
01:40
because you just don't see X-rays of big things that often.
34
100260
3000
01:43
Technology is moving ahead,
35
103260
2000
01:45
and these large cargo scanner X-rays
36
105260
3000
01:48
that work with the digital system are getting better and better and better.
37
108260
2000
01:50
Again though, to make it come alive
38
110260
2000
01:52
you need, somehow, to add the human element.
39
112260
2000
01:54
And I think the reason this image works, again, is because
40
114260
2000
01:56
Frieda is driving the bulldozer.
41
116260
2000
01:58
(Laughter)
42
118260
1000
01:59
Quite a difficult brief,
43
119260
2000
02:01
make a pair of men's pants look beautiful.
44
121260
2000
02:03
But I think the process, in itself, shows how exquisite they are.
45
123260
5000
02:08
Fashion -- now, I'm sort of anti-fashion because I
46
128260
2000
02:10
don't show the surface, I show what's within.
47
130260
2000
02:12
So, the fashionistas don't really like me
48
132260
2000
02:14
because it doesn't matter if Kate Moss is wearing it or if I'm wearing it,
49
134260
2000
02:16
it looks the same.
50
136260
2000
02:18
(Laughter)
51
138260
2000
02:20
We all look the same inside, believe me.
52
140260
2000
02:22
The creases in the material and the sort of nuances.
53
142260
4000
02:26
And I show things for really what they are, what they're made of.
54
146260
2000
02:28
I peel back the layers and expose it.
55
148260
3000
02:31
And if it's well made I show it, if it's badly made I show it.
56
151260
2000
02:33
And I'm sure Ross can associate that with design.
57
153260
3000
02:36
The design comes from within.
58
156260
2000
02:38
It's not just Topshop,
59
158260
2000
02:40
I get some strange looks when I go out getting my props.
60
160260
2000
02:42
Here I was fumbling around in the ladies' underwear department
61
162260
2000
02:44
of a department store, almost got escorted from the premises.
62
164260
4000
02:48
I live opposite a farm. And this was the runt of the litter, a piglet that died.
63
168260
3000
02:51
And what's really interesting is,
64
171260
2000
02:53
if you look at the legs, you'll notice that the bones haven't fused.
65
173260
3000
02:56
And should that pig have grown,
66
176260
2000
02:58
unfortunately it was dead, it would have certainly been dead
67
178260
2000
03:00
after I X-rayed it, with the amount of radiation I used anyway.
68
180260
2000
03:02
(Laughter)
69
182260
1000
03:03
But once the bones had fused together
70
183260
3000
03:06
it would have been healthy.
71
186260
2000
03:08
So, that's an empty parka jacket.
72
188260
3000
03:11
But I quite love the way it's posed.
73
191260
2000
03:13
Nature is my greatest inspiration.
74
193260
2000
03:15
And to carry on with a theme that we've already touched with
75
195260
3000
03:18
is how nature is related to architecture.
76
198260
3000
03:21
If you look at the roof of the Eden Project,
77
201260
3000
03:24
or the British library, it's all this honeycomb structure.
78
204260
2000
03:26
And I'm sure those architects are inspired,
79
206260
2000
03:28
as I am, by what surrounds us, by nature.
80
208260
3000
03:31
This, in fact, is a Victoria water lily leaf
81
211260
3000
03:34
that floats on the top of a pond.
82
214260
2000
03:36
An amaryllis flower looking really three-dimensional.
83
216260
4000
03:40
Seaweed, ebbing in the tide.
84
220260
2000
03:42
Now, how do I do this, and where do I do this, and all of that sort of thing.
85
222260
3000
03:45
This is my new, purpose-built, X-ray shed.
86
225260
2000
03:47
And the door to my X-ray room
87
227260
4000
03:51
is made of lead and steel.
88
231260
2000
03:53
It weighs 1,250 kilograms and the only exercise I get is opening and closing it.
89
233260
4000
03:57
(Laughter)
90
237260
3000
04:00
The walls are 700 millimeters thick of solid dense concrete.
91
240260
3000
04:03
So, I'm using quite a lot of radiation.
92
243260
2000
04:05
A lot more than you'd get in a hospital or a vet's.
93
245260
3000
04:08
And there I am. This is a quite high-powered X-ray machine.
94
248260
3000
04:11
What's interesting really about X-ray really
95
251260
3000
04:14
is, if you think about it, is that that technology
96
254260
2000
04:16
is used for looking for cancer or looking for drugs,
97
256260
2000
04:18
or looking for contraband or whatever.
98
258260
2000
04:20
And I use that sort of technology
99
260260
2000
04:22
to create things that are quite beautiful.
100
262260
3000
04:25
So, still working with film, I'm afraid.
101
265260
2000
04:27
Technology in X-ray where it's life-size processed,
102
267260
3000
04:30
apart from these large cargo-scanning machines,
103
270260
2000
04:32
hasn't moved on enough for the quality of the image
104
272260
3000
04:35
and the resolution to be good enough for what I want to do with it,
105
275260
2000
04:37
which is show my pictures big.
106
277260
2000
04:39
So, I have to use a 1980s drum scanner,
107
279260
4000
04:43
which was designed in the days when everyone shot photographs on film.
108
283260
3000
04:46
They scan each individual X-ray.
109
286260
2000
04:48
And this shows how I do my process of same-size X-rays.
110
288260
3000
04:51
So, this is, again, my daughter's dress.
111
291260
2000
04:53
Still has the tag in it from me buying it,
112
293260
2000
04:55
so I can take it back to the shop if she didn't like it.
113
295260
2000
04:57
But there are four X-ray plates.
114
297260
2000
04:59
You can see them overlapping.
115
299260
2000
05:01
So, when you move forward from something fairly small,
116
301260
3000
05:04
a dress which is this size,
117
304260
2000
05:06
onto something like that which is done in exactly the same process,
118
306260
3000
05:09
you can see that that is a lot of work.
119
309260
2000
05:11
In fact, that is three months solid X-raying.
120
311260
2000
05:13
There is over 500 separate components.
121
313260
3000
05:16
Boeing sent me a 747 in containers.
122
316260
2000
05:18
And I sent them back an X-ray.
123
318260
2000
05:20
(Laughter) I kid you not.
124
320260
2000
05:22
Okay, so Frieda is my dead skeleton.
125
322260
2000
05:24
This, unfortunately, is basically two pictures.
126
324260
3000
05:27
One on the extreme right is a photograph of an American footballer.
127
327260
3000
05:30
The one on the left is an x-ray.
128
330260
2000
05:32
But this time I had to use a real body.
129
332260
2000
05:34
Because I needed all the skin tissue to make it look real,
130
334260
2000
05:36
to make it look like it was a real athlete.
131
336260
2000
05:38
So, here I had to use a recently deceased body.
132
338260
2000
05:40
And getting a hold of that was extremely difficult and laborious.
133
340260
5000
05:45
But people do donate their bodies to art and science.
134
345260
2000
05:47
And when they do, I'm in the queue.
135
347260
2000
05:49
So, I like to use them.
136
349260
2000
05:51
(Laughter)
137
351260
1000
05:52
The coloring, so coloring adds another level to the X-rays.
138
352260
5000
05:57
It makes it more organic, more natural.
139
357260
2000
05:59
It's whatever takes my fancy, really.
140
359260
2000
06:01
It's not accurately colored to how it is in real life.
141
361260
3000
06:04
That flower doesn't come in bright orange, I don't think.
142
364260
2000
06:06
But I just like it in bright orange.
143
366260
2000
06:08
And also with something technical, like these are DJ decks,
144
368260
2000
06:10
it sort of adds another level.
145
370260
2000
06:12
It makes a two dimensional image look more three dimensional.
146
372260
4000
06:16
The most difficult things to X-ray,
147
376260
2000
06:18
the most technically challenging things to X-ray
148
378260
2000
06:20
are the lightest things, the most delicate things.
149
380260
2000
06:22
To get the detail in a feather,
150
382260
2000
06:24
believe me, if there is anyone out here who knows anything about X-rays,
151
384260
2000
06:26
that's quite a challenge.
152
386260
2000
06:28
I'm now going to show you a short film, I'll step to the side.
153
388260
2000
06:33
Video: (Music)
154
393260
3000
06:52
The thing in there is very dangerous.
155
412260
2000
06:54
If you touch that, you could possibly die
156
414260
2000
06:56
through radiation poisoning.
157
416260
2000
06:58
In my career I've had two exposures to radiation,
158
418260
2000
07:00
which is two too many, because it stays with you for life.
159
420260
2000
07:02
It's cumulative.
160
422260
2000
07:04
(Music)
161
424260
3000
07:13
It has human connotations.
162
433260
1000
07:14
The fact that it's a child's toy that we all recognize,
163
434260
3000
07:17
but also it looks like it's a robot,
164
437260
3000
07:20
and it comes from a sci-fi genus.
165
440260
5000
07:25
It's a surprise that it has humanity,
166
445260
3000
07:28
but also man-made, future, alien associations.
167
448260
8000
07:36
And it's just a bit spooky.
168
456260
2000
07:38
(Music)
169
458260
2000
08:13
The bus was done with a cargo-scanning X-ray machine,
170
493260
3000
08:16
which is used on the borders
171
496260
2000
08:18
between countries, looking for contraband and illegal immigrants.
172
498260
3000
08:21
The lorry goes in front of it. And it takes slices
173
501260
3000
08:24
of X-rays through the lorry.
174
504260
2000
08:26
And that's how this was done. It's actually slice, slice.
175
506260
2000
08:28
It's a bit like a CT scanner in a hospital. Slices.
176
508260
2000
08:30
And then if you look carefully, there is all little things.
177
510260
3000
08:33
He's got headphones on, reading the newspaper,
178
513260
2000
08:35
got a hat on, glasses, got a bag.
179
515260
3000
08:38
So, these little details
180
518260
3000
08:41
help to make it work, make it real.
181
521260
3000
08:44
(Music)
182
524260
3000
08:51
The problem with using living people is that
183
531260
2000
08:53
to take an X-ray, if I X-ray you, you get exposed to radiation.
184
533260
3000
08:56
So, to avoid that --
185
536260
2000
08:58
I have to avoid it somehow --
186
538260
2000
09:00
is I use dead people.
187
540260
2000
09:02
Now, that's a variety of things, from recently deceased bodies,
188
542260
4000
09:06
to a skeleton that was used by student radiographers
189
546260
5000
09:11
to train in taking X-rays of the human body,
190
551260
3000
09:14
at different densities.
191
554260
2000
09:16
(Music)
192
556260
2000
09:21
I have very high-tech equipment of gloves, scissors and a bucket.
193
561260
3000
09:24
(Music)
194
564260
3000
09:31
I will show how the capillary action works, how it feeds,
195
571260
3000
09:34
I'll be able to get all the cells inside that stem.
196
574260
2000
09:36
Because it transfers food from its roots to its leaves.
197
576260
4000
09:40
Look at this monster.
198
580260
2000
09:42
(Music)
199
582260
3000
09:54
It's so basic. It just grows wild.
200
594260
3000
09:57
That's what I really like about it,
201
597260
2000
09:59
the fact that I haven't got to go and buy it,
202
599260
2000
10:01
and it hasn't been genetically modified at all.
203
601260
2000
10:03
It's just happening.
204
603260
2000
10:05
And the X-ray shows how beautiful nature can be.
205
605260
3000
10:08
Not that that is particularly beautiful
206
608260
2000
10:10
when you look at it with the human eye,
207
610260
3000
10:13
the way the leaves form. They're curling back on each other.
208
613260
4000
10:17
So the X-ray will show the overlaps in these little corners.
209
617260
2000
10:31
The thicker the object, the more radiation it needs,
210
631260
2000
10:33
and the more time it needs.
211
633260
2000
10:35
The lighter the object, the less radiation.
212
635260
3000
10:38
Sometimes you keep the time up, because the time gives you detail.
213
638260
3000
10:41
The longer the exposure goes on for,
214
641260
2000
10:43
the more detail you get.
215
643260
2000
10:46
(Music)
216
646260
2000
11:00
If you look at this, just the tube,
217
660260
2000
11:02
it is quite bright.
218
662260
2000
11:04
But I could get a bit darker in the tube, but everything else would suffer.
219
664260
3000
11:07
So, these leaves at the edge would start to disappear.
220
667260
4000
11:11
What I like is how hard the edges are,
221
671260
2000
11:13
how sharp.
222
673260
2000
11:15
Yeah, I'm quite pleased with it.
223
675260
2000
11:17
(Music)
224
677260
2000
11:19
I travel beyond the surface and show
225
679260
2000
11:21
something for what it's worth,
226
681260
3000
11:24
for what it's really made of, how it really works.
227
684260
2000
11:26
But also I find that
228
686260
3000
11:29
I've got the benefit of taking away all the surface,
229
689260
4000
11:33
which is things that people are used to seeing.
230
693260
3000
11:37
And that's the sort of thing I've been doing.
231
697260
2000
11:39
I've got the opportunity now to show you
232
699260
2000
11:41
what I'm going to be doing in the future.
233
701260
2000
11:43
This is a commercial application of my most recent work.
234
703260
4000
11:47
And what's good about this, I think, is that it's like a moment in time,
235
707260
3000
11:50
like you've turned around, you've got X-ray vision
236
710260
2000
11:52
and you've taken a picture with the X-ray camera.
237
712260
2000
11:54
Unfortunately I haven't got X-ray vision.
238
714260
2000
11:56
I do dream in X-ray. I see my projects in my sleep.
239
716260
3000
11:59
And I know what they're going to look like in X-ray and I'm not far off.
240
719260
3000
12:02
So, what am I doing in the future?
241
722260
2000
12:04
Well, this year is the 50th anniversary
242
724260
2000
12:06
of Issigonis's Mini, which is one of my favorite cars.
243
726260
3000
12:09
So, I've taken it apart, component by component,
244
729260
3000
12:12
months and months and months of work.
245
732260
2000
12:14
And with this image, I'm going to be displaying
246
734260
3000
12:17
it in the Victoria and Albert Museum
247
737260
3000
12:20
as a light box, which is actually attached to the car.
248
740260
2000
12:22
So, I've got to saw the car in half, down the middle,
249
742260
3000
12:25
not an easy task, in itself.
250
745260
2000
12:27
And then, so you can get in the driver's side, sit down,
251
747260
2000
12:29
and up against you is a wall.
252
749260
2000
12:31
And if you get out and walk around to the other side of the car,
253
751260
2000
12:33
you see a life-sized light box of the car showing you how it works.
254
753260
3000
12:36
And I'm going to take that idea
255
756260
2000
12:38
and apply it to other sort of iconic things from my life.
256
758260
4000
12:42
Like, my first computer was a big movement in my life.
257
762260
3000
12:45
And I had a Mac Classic. And it's a little box.
258
765260
2000
12:47
And I think that would look quite neat as an X-ray.
259
767260
3000
12:50
I'm also looking to
260
770260
2000
12:52
take my work from the two-dimensional form
261
772260
2000
12:54
to a more three-dimensional form.
262
774260
2000
12:56
And this is quite a good way of doing it.
263
776260
3000
12:59
I'm also working now with X-ray video.
264
779260
2000
13:01
So, if you can imagine, some of these flowers,
265
781260
2000
13:03
and they're actually moving and growing
266
783260
2000
13:05
and you can film that in X-ray, should be quite stunning.
267
785260
3000
13:08
But that's it. I'm done. Thank you very much.
268
788260
2000
13:10
(Applause)
269
790260
2000
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7