ویلیام کونکلین يدمج خبرته الاشعاعية بالتصوير الفوتوغرافي .. مجلة فن التصوير اللبنانية

William Conklin
Combines his radiological expertise with photography

William Conklin, a radiographer (R.X) with extensive experience in the medical fields, was able to bring science and art together to create a collection of photographs that reveal the beauty of the labyrinths hidden inside the depths of closed shells.
We present him here with a group of his distinguished works that are worthy of viewing and study.

“I have always been - and still are - interested in structures, and in my opinion, the marine shell represents a unique model of a geometric shape.”

This is what William begins with as an introduction to introducing himself on our pages. Considering that his relationship with seashells is the basis for his orientation as a photographer, he worked on mixing his scientific experience with a new artistic method to reach a group of images with internal dimensions. It has won the admiration of many as it constitutes a photographic study based on radiographic imaging of seashells. Each shell has been captured in an external color photograph and an X-ray (R. X) black and white print to record the beauty inside and out.

Conklin is the former head of the radiology department at Orangeburg Red Genal Hospital, and he remained in this position until his retirement in 1982.
As for his career as a photographer, he confirms that he learned this art himself, and he says about that!

The beginning was twenty-four years ago, when
A friend of mine from the technical x-ray department at Kodak Company lent me a Star Flash camera and a roll of film to photograph my first daughter. I fell in love with this second daughter, which is the camera. Photography has since become one of my interests.

Then William bought a better camera, a book on darkroom techniques, and a magnifier. As the shed above his car garage becomes a temporary dark room, he says commenting:
There is no doubt that my background in radiography and dark room chemistry helped me a lot. As for the inspiration behind my collection, it was an oil painting, which I saw of a seashell painted in white on a black background. If this mixture of black and white reminded me of x-rays immediately, I bought a shell that I took home to conduct experiments on it. I x-rayed it first, then I took an x-ray and put an 11 x 14 inch print. Since then, I have been fascinated by the beauty of chance.

Conklin's first solo photographic exhibition was at the Ninth National Museum of Natural History of the Shemishoyan Foundation, in 1978. Since then this exhibition has become accepted for permanent display in the Hall - Molluscs.
A similar exhibition has been on tour for four years at science museums across the country.

The single most important factor in Conklin's artwork is finding the perfect or near perfect single specimen. His favorite spot for shells is Sybill Island, located on the west coast of Florida. As for rare shells, he begged, borrowed, bartered and bought them from shellfish scientists and collectors. That the ideal is. necessity. . That is, the simplest cracks or erosion will be detected by the radiographic eye that does not make mistakes with ease. To locate these defects, Conklin works to illuminate each shell with a very intense illumination. If it becomes clear that there are no cracks or erosion, then work begins.

And depending on the coincidence itself, the type of X-ray film, screen and film is determined, which will give the best density, light contrast and details.
The next step is to take an x-ray. To achieve this, Conklin uses a custom replica platform and custom-made lighting and equipment. One of his innovations in this regard is Munir, with four tubes for solarization, subtraction, and x-ray filming, because the two additional lamps provide more comprehensive illumination and removal of hot spots. black paper. As for the camera on the holder of the copy, it is focused on the image, and the exposures are the same
cordoned off
To get the clearest print on black-and-white films, Conklin works with soft-point, slow-speed film, and all images are taken on 35mm film using a 35mm camera with a 50mm macro lens. In order to achieve the maximum sharpness of the prominence, it works at f / 16 or f / 11 and uses the camera's automatic exposure feature, shooting exposures.
The optical image is from 1/4 to 4 times what is normal. Once the radial image and the black and white image are complete, then the next step is to photograph the charity in colours, and this is somewhat more tiring work.

And since it was necessary to photograph the shells in the same vertical plane in which they were photographed with x-rays, Conklin proceeded to follow and modify a copying platform with four adjustable flood light lamps, and then added a daylight fluorescent light to provide a slight illumination of the glow of the extremely bright shells. Several light platforms that can be carried so that the charity can be illuminated from all angles. Then to install the shell in place. It uses an adjustable frame that is installed with a non-glare glass slide. As for the background, it can be changed by placing many different velvet colors under the glass.

And since Coquelin uses slides during his lectures around the country, his entire color photography is done on slide film, with a photographic flood light equipment ready to be set up, working with Ectachrome tungsten 106 film. As for the daylight device, he uses the Codachrome 25 or 64, but he says he is also impressed with the results he gets from the Fujikram 100. As for the location of the hole, it is usually at about F / 8, and since each shell is represented as a group of colored prints placed next to a black and white print - the paving process becomes decisive. To achieve this essential alignment, Conklin first draws the margins he wants on the back of an unusable print, then puts the colored slide in his enlarger, and prepares the image focusing on the dimensions of the margins, where he draws a picture of the shell with a felt-tip pen, using the image as a model.

The slide and bar are then sent into reversal so that darkroom specialists can obtain accurate scale and tonal balance on their final prints. Then, when the prints are returned, the renderers are used again to properly position the black-and-white images, and then put into files for future use.
Throughout his practice of this business, Conklin has won a number of awards in the field of national competition through his scientific studies and film exhibitions. Radiography in thirty states, we point out that in the year 1962 he was granted fellowship membership in the American Society for Radiographic Imaging Technology »in appreciation of his scientific and educational contributions, and this is a mention that only a few technologists have received.

Finally, we point out that there are pictures from his collection and the inner dimension, sold to people all over the world. Besides shell lovers and art collectors, his clients include public institutions that use his photographs to add a touch of artistic interest to their offices and those of their shareholders.

What is the next thing Conklin is looking forward to? .. He is now busy with all samples of fish, crabs, sharks, rays (fish) and shellfish, for photographic and radiological exhibitions that he will hold in the future under the title of marine life ⏹