First series of X-rays ever produced

The photogravures from the series “Versuche über Photographie mittelst der Röntgen’schen Strahlen” (“Experiments in Photography by means of X-Rays”), produced by Josef Maria Eder and Eduard Valenta, offer a fascinating glimpse into the early exploration of X-ray technology and its artistic and scientific implications. Josef Maria Eder, a director of an institute for graphic processes, and Eduard Valenta, a photochemist, collaborated to create a portfolio of fifteen images, showcasing both positives and negatives captured using X-rays.

The images in the portfolio encompass a wide range of subjects, from the skeletal structures of animals and human limbs to X-rays of carved cameos and various materials such as metal, wood, glass, and meat. These images, produced in the wake of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen’s groundbreaking discovery of X-rays, hold particular significance as some of the earliest examples of X-ray photography.

At the time of their publication, shortly after Röntgen’s seminal paper, these images must have been profoundly striking, both for their novelty and their aesthetic impact. The portfolio’s meticulous compositions and the startling appearance of the X-rayed subjects harken back to the tradition of natural-history illustration from the previous century. Moreover, they foreshadow the experimental approaches of New Vision photographers in the 1910s and 1920s, who sought to explore new perspectives and ways of seeing in photography.

The impact of Eder and Valenta’s work extends beyond its artistic value; it also underscores the revolutionary nature of Röntgen’s discovery, which not only transformed medicine but also opened up new possibilities for visual representation and scientific inquiry. As such, these early X-ray photographs hold a unique place in the history of photography, bridging the gap between art and science while pushing the boundaries of both disciplines.