CT scan of my skull - a Kallitype

Kimberly Anderson · Oct 23, 2005

I have been suffering from headaches for about the past 2-3 weeks. The last week they were so severe and unending that I went to the ER on Friday night and was checked out.

I had a CT scan done of my head, and struck up a nice conversation with the operator.

Of course I had to tell her I was a photographer and if I could look at the machine, understand how it works, etc. I also asked her if I could have a set of the film to take home and print.

She was curious how I was going to print it, so I explained how to contact print. She understood and thought it was interesting, so she made a few extra copies of the CT scan for me.

I trimmed out the 6 most interesting panels and printed them this morning as a Kallitype.

The brain tumor we all fear turns out in my case to be a severe case of Sinusitis. The medication and painkillers have laid me up for the past two days. I'm just now starting to feel like I can get up and do something productive besides surf the internet.

Playing around with the CT scan is making the recovery bearable.

Enjoy!

Dead Link Removed

jmdavis · Oct 23, 2005

OK, that's weird.

I dated a woman in college who had all of her medical records, including the Bill for her birth (given to her by her father when she turned 18). This isn't that weird, more of a pleasant, curious weird.

Mike Davis

Kimberly Anderson · Oct 23, 2005

jmdavis said:
OK, that's weird.

I dated a woman in college who had all of her medical records, including the Bill for her birth (given to her by her father when she turned 18). This isn't that weird, more of a pleasant, curious weird.

Mike Davis

The laughing is making my head hurt!

mark · Oct 23, 2005

My brother had a CT scan and we have yet to let him live down the dr.'s pronouncments. "We got a clear view inside his head and could not find anything." SOmething his two brothers knew for years.

I have always wanted to contact my dad's array of x-rays. He has a ton of them. I think his knee replacements would look the best. I tried to contact some of my wrist x-rays but, at the time was doing it all on plain silver. I think you need a longer scale to than silver can provide. I see the Kallitype worked well.

I wonder what my wrist MRI's would look like?

laz · Oct 23, 2005

My avatar is from my MRI. I've got a whole series of them proving once and for all I do have a brain! (although how well it works is a whole other issue!)
-Bob

Andy K · Oct 23, 2005

Excellent! It never ceases to amaze me the things people will find to amuse themselves when housebound through illness!

removed account4 · Oct 23, 2005

cool kallitypes!

when i was in college, i was friendly with people at a nearby hospital's xray department. they were happy to give me some of the xrays they were going to destroy and i used them in several projects i did.

one thing that i learned from a neighbor who is a radiologist is that here in the states doctors look and read the negative, but in england, they look at a positive print. i guess if you are a radiologist in england ( until everything went digital ) you must have had fun in the darkroom making prints

-john

Andy K · Oct 23, 2005

True John. I had to have an X-ray of my back a couple of weeks ago (my entire muscle structure in my back went into spasm at 6.00am, the pain radiated round to my chest and I woke up drenched in sweat with massive pain in my chest! One rapid ambulance ride later, an ECG, and the cause was found!), they were digital and negative.

laz · Oct 23, 2005

Andy K said:
One rapid ambulance ride later, an ECG, and the cause was found!), they were digital and negative.

Wow who would have thought digital negatives could cause so much pain!

Andy K · Oct 23, 2005

laz said:
Wow who would have thought digital negatives could cause so much pain!

Best chuckle I've had all evening! Cheers!

Bob F. · Oct 23, 2005

Andy K said:
True John. I had to have an X-ray of my back a couple of weeks ago (my entire muscle structure in my back went into spasm at 6.00am, the pain radiated round to my chest and I woke up drenched in sweat with massive pain in my chest! One rapid ambulance ride later, an ECG, and the cause was found!), they were digital and negative.

Yikes!

NOT the way you want to start your day! Glad it was just a muscle spasm (I suspect you are too )...

Cheers, Bob.

Andy K · Oct 23, 2005

Thanks Bob,

Too right I'm glad! The paramedics did an ECG right here in the flat when they arrived and said then it wasn't my heart, but because it was major chest pain (imagine the worst cramp you ever had, multiply by ten and put it on your chest) they had to take me into A&E. I was put on another ECG there, heart problem was completely ruled out, so major painkillers were administered and I was wheeled down to X-ray. Was released six hours later, high as a kite!
The bonus is I now know my BP is 110 over 80 and my resting heart rate is 68 BPM, so I'm pretty healthy really, all that cycling has paid off!

Unfortunately I forgot to ask to keep the X-ray.

Mongo · Oct 23, 2005

Thanks for this post...I have my latest spinal MRI and I've been thinking about contact printing it, but thought that would be too weird. No I won't feel weird at all doing it.

Kimberly Anderson · Oct 23, 2005

Mongo said:
Thanks for this post...I have my latest spinal MRI and I've been thinking about contact printing it, but thought that would be too weird. No I won't feel weird at all doing it.

If you DIDN'T contact print it...now that would be weird.

nick mulder · Nov 6, 2005

Mongo said:
Thanks for this post...I have my latest spinal MRI and I've been thinking about contact printing it, but thought that would be too weird. No I won't feel weird at all doing it.

I needed a large +ve neg to try some photopolymer gravure printing the other day - so I printed on some pictorico OHP a X-ray photograph of a shell I had found on the net, it had great gradients from black to clear was smooth and also sharp etc.. so would be a good test for the process ...

turns out solarplate keeps the tonality very well I could even see the ink-jet blobs in the final printed piece

I immediately thought of my spinal x-ray at home - and I think I have some scans of my guts somewhere ...

great fun! should see stuff like this up on the wall at the doctors waiting room (;

rbarker · Nov 6, 2005

Michael - cool contact print. Glad it turned out to be a sinus problem, rather than the feared cranial encroachment. I, too, have film from a spinal MRI that I've considered contact printing. Now, thanks to the liberating nature of your post, I'll do it once the new darkroom is finished.

Andy - I'm also pleased that your pain in the chest wasn't heart related. Spinal nerve irritations do strange things, often resulting in pain or sensation far removed from the source.

Kimberly Anderson · Nov 6, 2005

I thought this thread had died...nice to see it hasn't.

I would think that anyone who is contact printing has a moral obligation to themselves to print out any negatives made of their own bodies in any capacity. MRI, CT, X-ray, etc...they are BEGGING to be liberated from their medical existance and enter the realm of 'art'.

You owe it to your negatives.

CT scan of my skull - a Kallitype

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