The Sterile Eye

Superpowers

March 24, 2010 § 3 Comments

A lot of people think I’m in the business of radiography (photo credit). I tell them I work as a photographer at a hospital and they only hear “grapher” and “hospital”. “So, you’re taking x-rays and stuff?”. No.

Medical photography is a very small speciality and most people don’t know we exist. Say the words “take some pictures” to a patient and she might get the wrong idea. Not everyone takes this long to realize, though. « Read the rest of this entry »

Jan van Rymsdyk – Drawer of Wombs

March 19, 2010 § 15 Comments

Jan van Rymsdyk's most famous plate from William Hunter's "Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus".

In October 2008 I visited the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, where William Hunter’s great book of obstetrics was on display. Published in 1774, The Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus did much to advance the understanding of human pregnancy. The book contains 34 copper engravings. 31 of these magnificent medical illustrations were made by a mysterious man called Jan van Rymsdyk. « Read the rest of this entry »

Hospital Food

March 18, 2010 § Leave a comment

Photo by Øystein Horgmo. © Medical Photography Section, University of Oslo.

I promised I would post photos here now and then, after I shut down my 365 project. This first one goes out to Tokyomas, who’s been nagging me about taking pictures of food. I had an assignment today with the hospital’s main kitchen to shoot some photos from a new cantina in the coronary care unit. They wanted the hospital food to look delicious, of course. Enjoy.

Medical Photographer Interview

March 10, 2010 § Leave a comment

Medical photographer Karl Southerton.

I came across this interview with British medical photographer Karl Southerton. He specializes in opthalmic photography and heads the photo department at the Western Eye Hospital in London.

The interview (April 2009) is part of a BBC News web series about medical specialities, called Inside Medicine.

Also check out this short piece from the Imperial College bulletin 360°.

Always interesting to read about colleagues around the world!

Bring the Nose

March 6, 2010 § 3 Comments

Still from the animation film "Le Nez" by Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker.

There are a a few diagnoses that we take a standardized set of photos for, regardless of the individual patient. These sets provide the best photos of the diagnosis and assures consistency of documentation. One of these diagnoses is Deformatio Nasi or crooked nose. I don’t know if it’s because the photos are predetermined, but we always just call these patients “a nose”. « Read the rest of this entry »

How to Say Goodbye

February 14, 2010 § 4 Comments

Photo by William M. Vander Weyde (American 1871–1929). Public Domain.

In my new job I have a lot more contact with patients than before. Patients not asleep, that is. Although this is an aspect of the job I really enjoy, it presents several new problems. How to say goodbye to a patient with a chronic disease, for example. « Read the rest of this entry »

My Videos goes App

February 9, 2010 § 4 Comments

iOncolex, an iPhone application that contains photos and videos by yours truly, became available at the iTunes Appstore yesterday. The application is developed by my former employer, the Institute for Medical Informatics at Oslo University Hospital. « Read the rest of this entry »

365 Photo Project

January 31, 2010 § Leave a comment

Tomorrow, on February 1st, I’m starting a 365 photo project, where I’ll post one photo yeach day for a year (photo credit).

I will strive to post mostly fresh photos, but I will also post some old ones I’ve dug out from the archives.

I’ve set up a separate blog for this project, at http://sterileeye365.wordpress.com. Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed or subscribe by email at the site. I will also post the updates on Twitter.

Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I’ll hopefully do!

UPDATE (05.10.10): The 365 blog has been shut down and the photos archived here.

Vintage Stuff Part 2 – Storz Endoscope Adapter

January 24, 2010 § 4 Comments

We have an Olympus OM-2 kit at work, complete with a range of lenses, a flash and a Storz 593-T2 endoscope adapter. This adapter makes it possible to attach the camera to any Storz endoscope, such as gastroscopes, colonoscopes and laparoscopes. « Read the rest of this entry »

Be Quick or Be Dead

January 22, 2010 § 2 Comments

I’m used to being an annoyance. In my previous job I was working on a project where we should document all kinds of cancer treatment, from biopsies to surgery. We would decide that we needed to make a video of some operation, and then had to go find a surgeon who would agree to take me along. We always found one, but they didn’t always come easy. « Read the rest of this entry »