California Literary Review

X-ray : Portfolio 2

by David Arky

Blurb, 38 pp.

After two decades of making photographs with conventional techniques, I had the opportunity to use x-rays to explore the inner qualities of everyday objects.

The added adventure in the use of the x-ray process is the “ah-ha” moment that I first experienced at the beginning of my photographic career when I enjoyed developing and printing black and white film.

Duane Michals expressed it well when he said, “Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.”

An inner life is uncovered in the nature of x-ray photography and in the nature of the subjects. I choose props from everyday life that to me become animated and with recognizable personae.

I wanted to create a body of work that intersects my interests in the sciences and art, while keeping some mystery about who we are in a world.

—David Arky