Nick Veasey (UK, b.1962) lives and works in Kent, UK, working primarily with radiography to create his images X-ray images. Through the unique penetration of the X-ray process, Nick Veasey strips back the layers to show what lies beneath the surface, revealing the inner workings behind the subjects facade, playfully and mischievously exploring the essence of objects and human inner desire. Veasey’s worldwide recognition includes; imagery for the front cover of TIME magazine, recent collaborations with Alexander McQueen SS23 and the Victoria and Albert Museum "Balenciaga: shaping fashion" exhibition, a large-scale retrospective at the renowned Fotografiska museum in Sweden, visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Swedish royalty. Recent shows include “X-ray Men” at the Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art and “APMA chapter 3” at the Amorepacific Museum of Art. Permanently collected in the V&A Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in the US, the BMW Museum in Germany, the National Science and Media Museum in the UK, and the Museum of Applied Arts and Design in Switzerland, important collaborations with international brands like Louis Vuitton, United Airlines, Balenciaga, and more.

A large-scale retrospective at the renowned Fotografiska museum in Sweden, visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Swedish royalty.

The genesis of X-ray photography can be traced back to a serendipitous discovery in 1895 when German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen stumbled upon what he termed “X-rays”. Roentgen’s experiments with cathode-ray tubes unveiled a mysterious form of radiation capable of penetrating solid objects. His wife’s hand became the subject of the world’s first X- ray image, marking the advent of medical radiography. Nick Veasey started his X-ray career with a “finger” image to pay tribute to Roentgen. However, working with X-rays is dangerous and safety is paramount. For over thirty years Veasey’s body of work has developed a dazzling balance of extremes, using lethal radiation to produce results of great lyricism and grace. Veasey spent years perfecting his methodology, reaching out to scientists and photographers alike to gauge object density and radiation intensity. Larger subjects are more labour intensive, the lens capacity of the machine is limited to the size of the processing film, therefore each image is compartmentalised into multiple shots. Unfazed by the hazardous and arduous medium, equipped with his extensive technical knowledge, Veasey’s creative process is limitless. Radiation's candid exposure gives the viewers that precious feeling that they have somehow seen reality afresh with an aspect to life that they have never before experienced. Over the years, his canon of work has diversified from the Pepsi Cola can to a Boeing 77 and everything in between. Materiality is no obstacle.

Nick Veasey pays tribute to Wilhelm

Veasey used iconic works from renowned Dadaist artists such as Magritte's pipe, Salvador Dalí's lobster telephone, and Marcel Duchamp's urinal as creative inspirations.

Nick Veasey's classic antique clothing and vintage car series interprets the fusion of history, technology, and art, revealing the awe-inspiring invisible perspectives inherent in objects. Specially invited by the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in the UK, Veasey collaborated to photograph rarely seen and exceptional antique garments from the museum's collection. To capture historical clothing and accessories spanning the 17th to the 18th centuries to the present day, Veasey transformed a truck into a mobile X-ray studio, bringing the creative process into the museum. Through a perspective approach, he documented the classic designs and intricate aesthetics between stitches. Over five years, he executed a project to photograph vintage cars, using the world's largest X-ray machine for the first-ever X-ray documentation of iconic car models.

The antique costumes in the V&A collection cannot leave the museum building. Veasey transformed the truck into a mobile X-ray studio and drove professional work equipment into the museum.

Nick Veasey Antique Car Photography Project

In 2023 the solo exhibition “Nick Veasey: Forensic Beauty" at Bluerider ART London·Mayfair extends beyond traditional prints. With an installation piece based around darkroom activity, the exhibition aims to engage the audience through visually stimulating displays, including mirrors, lenticulars, raw film, and high-quality dissect prints. Veasey's optical illusions invite viewers to witness reality afresh, revealing the inner workings of each subject. The exhibition presented a series of work, mirroring the irony of the English, with seasonal window display to raise the festive moral of Mayfair. "Forensic Beauty" was not only a visual spectacle, but a testament to Nick Veasey's mastery of a hazardous medium, which grants his art to penetrate the surface and take us on a journey into a world otherwise hidden, offering a unique perspective on the intersection of science and art. Veasey's work serves as a reminder that, beneath the surface, more unites us than divides us.