We recognize the way cars look, the curves of a Ferrari, the aggression of a Mercedes AM, the iconic silhouette of a Volkswagen Beetle. But what does it look like if we take all of that away and see the mechanical soul beneath? That’s exactly what British artist Nick Veasey has spent decades doing; using industrial X-ray technology to reveal the hidden engineering beauty behind the world’s most iconic cars.
Who Is Nick Veasey?
Nick Veasey is a London born photographer, starting his journey as a teenager before becoming a professional in his thirties. Veasey originally worked in advertising and design industries for nearly a decade, focusing on conventional still photography.
His monumental career pivot came about by accident, when he was asked to X-ray a soda can for a TV show. Taking the opportunity to also X-ray the shoes he was wearing that day, the positive reaction from the director set him on an entirely new path.
Fast forward to today, he is a British photographer and pioneer in the field, combining the lost art form of film photography with the unconventional use of X-ray technology as a form of creative expression. With his work featuring on the cover of TIME magazine, giving a TED talk, and in 2018 held a large-scale exhibition at the renowned Fotografiska museum in Sweden, visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The Philosophy: Beauty Is More Than Skin Deep
“We all make assumptions based on the external visual aspects of what surrounds us and we are attracted to people and forms that are aesthetically pleasing. I like to challenge this automatic way that we react to just physical appearance by highlighting the, often surprising, inner beauty.”
His work also touches on themes of surveillance and security, reflecting a society that has become increasingly monitored, our moves tracked by cameras and scanning machines. By turning that same technology into art, Veasey subverts it.
The Studio: A Concrete Bunker in Kent
Safety is paramount. All radiation is contained in a bespoke concrete chamber. Veasey refers to this as his purpose-built “black box” and it is where the vast majority of the X-ray work is created. The X-ray head units are inside the secure area, while the controls are outside.
The studio is roughly 800 square feet with concrete walls 30 inches thick. The lead door alone weighs over 2,700 pounds. Inside, he operates five X-ray machines to capture images that provide an intimate, even eerie look into large metal objects.
Utilising X-ray machinery more powerful than what you would find in a hospital or airport, Veasey captures his images using X-ray film.
The Process: How Do You X-Ray a Car?
To take an X-ray, the subject is placed on a lead floor or wall with film positioned behind it. Once everything’s set, Nick steps outside, adjusts the settings, and runs the machine based on the material he’s imaging.
He then selects an appropriate exposure time as more X-rays are needed to image a heavy object made of steel than a light object made of plastic. Once the exposure is complete, he re-enters the room and collects the film.
His Youtube videos explain how when switching between a heavy object and something more delicate, the entire exposure calibration must start again with fresh test exposures.
Afterward, Nick processes the film and scans it at super high resolution to get crisp details. The digital files are then cleaned up and fine-tuned by his small team of image experts.
A single car cannot be done in one shot. Large subjects such as automobiles present particular difficulties; a complete car cannot be X-rayed in a single exposure. Each image is composed of a complex collage of multiple X-rays which are layered and put together to form the final visual.
The Big Machine: Taking It to Another Level
For his classic car series, Veasey needed something far beyond his Kent studio.
The X-ray machine he used is at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, and normally functions to examine new materials used in large objects; to avoid dismantling these objects. It took two years just to convince the car owners to allow their classic vehicles to be exposed to a machine rated at 9 million volts, 100 times more powerful than those found in hospitals.
He also had to arrange and pay for transportation and insurance for those vehicles, which were scanned in 0.2mm increments to achieve maximum detail.
Each car was carefully hoisted onto a turntable at a height of 1.2 metres with a crane, within a futuristic chamber lined with a 4-metre-thick wall of dense sand.
Crucially, we can see in Veasey’s Youtube videos that once the power is switched off, the process is completely safe and does not contaminate or damage the object in any way. Re-assuring the owners that the process does not damage the vehicles in any way.
The Cars: An Iconic Garage in X-Ray
Veasey spent four summers photographing 20 vehicles, among them a 1955 Ferrari Mondial, a 1907 De Dion Bouton, a Gullwing Mercedes-Benz, a 1957 Citroën 2CV, and even a pickup truck.
The series also includes the tiny Fiat 500 and quirky vehicles such as the BMW Isetta and Messerschmitt KR200.
Other notable X-rayed cars include:
- Ferrari F40 and Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona
- Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing and Mercedes-AMG GTR
- 1972 Porsche 911 Targa and 1959 Porsche 356B Coupé
- 1963 Chevrolet Corvette split-window coupé – Veasey’s personal favourite of all the cars he X-rayed: “It’s just sex. It’s just gorgeous.”
- 1972 Land Rover Series 3
Veasey has also collaborated directly with major car manufacturers including Porsche, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and BMW to produce X-rays of their cars. One of his most celebrated collaborations was for the 50th anniversary of Issigonis’s Mini, which he has cited as one of his favourite cars.
What do the X-Rays Reveal?
Modern cars are extraordinarily complex, packed with electronics, speakers, airbags, safety systems and structural engineering (as highlighted in Veasey’s Mercedes-AMG GTR video). The X-rays lay all of this bare in ghostly, glowing detail.
Unlike conventional photography, where light cooperates predictably, radiation behaves differently depending on material density. Metal appears white, organic material grey, and air black. Creating readable images requires understanding how various materials interact with X-rays and planning compositions that account for these interactions.
From small everyday objects to large multi-component structures such as cars, buses full of passengers, and even a life-size Boeing 777 jet, Veasey says: “I want to excite people and help them appreciate the things around them in a new way. X-ray is a very honest process, it shows things for what they are. In this superficial world, that’s quite refreshing.
Where to See the Work
Veasey has worked on projects with the V&A, Adobe, Adidas, BBC, Time and many others. The dedicated classic car X-ray site is at classiccarsinxray.com, and his full portfolio lives at nickveasey.com. For purchase options please inquire with our amazing team here at Art Angels, who will be able to answer any of your questions.