Detail van een naald in een bal van een duim before 1904

This image, "Detail van een naald in een bal van een duim" (Detail of a needle in the ball of a thumb), is a black-and-white photograph capturing an X-ray image. Imagine the moment of its creation, a kind of unveiling, a new way of seeing inside. I'm thinking about the artist, F.R.S. Hicks, and what he might have been thinking when he made it. Was he thinking about medical diagnostics, the sheer marvel of seeing through skin and bone? The needle is so stark against the shadowy flesh, it's as if the photograph is trying to reveal what's hidden, making visible the invisible. I can see how it relates to the wider discussion on photography - a new way of seeing. Photography offers a way of understanding, but also a way of questioning. It allows for endless interpretations.