After years of research, testing, and development, I’ve finally achieved the central goal of the Architecture in Music series: to photograph the inside of a Stradivarius violin—without opening it.
Just after Easter, Australian violinist Daniel Dodds travelled to Melbourne, where we worked together to photograph the 1717 “ex Hämmerle – ex Baumgartner”, an instrument from Stradivari’s golden period. It’s named for two of its distinguished former owners: Theodor Hämmerle, a Viennese industrialist and collector, and Rudolf Baumgartner, the Swiss conductor and founder of the Lucerne Festival Strings. Today, this extraordinary violin is played by Daniel, who also serves as Artistic Director of the Lucerne Festival Strings.
This is the first time a Stradivarius has been photographed in this way. It’s important to clarify what that means: Stradivari instruments have been extensively studied. They’ve been scanned, X-rayed, measured, put through MRIs, and tested acoustically in almost every way imaginable. But to truly photograph the inside—traditionally—you had to remove the top plate. That’s an invasive and risky procedure. Understandably, it’s not something anyone is eager to do.
Instead, I used a system I’ve spent years refining: a pair of adapted medical endoscopes inserted through the endpin hole of the violin, allowing me to photograph its interior without any structural interference.
Access and Preparation
Getting access to a Stradivarius is among the hardest parts of this process. There are only around 500 surviving instruments, and most are in near-constant use or housed in collections. Careful negotiation, timing, and a fair dose of luck all played a role here. My background as an orchestral cellist certainly helped—being familiar with handling valuable instruments built the necessary trust.
My thanks go especially to the Australian World Orchestra, who helped connect me with Daniel Dodds and the Lucerne Festival Strings.
On the day, we photographed three instruments:
– Daniel’s 1717 Stradivarius
– A 1761 Guadagnini violin currently played by Wilma Smith, former concertmaster of the NZSO and MSO
– A contemporary violin by Rainer Beilharz, whose cello I photographed earlier this year
This session was also documented by Australian Geographic, so keep an eye out for their feature in an upcoming issue.
Inside the Strad
The interior of the Stradivarius is remarkable. The top plate shows a very tight grain structure. The flaming of the back plate is still visible, though it has been softened by age. There are a few signs of careful repair—a small cleat under the bass bar, forming a distinct cross shape, and a large expertly-installed patch across the centre under the f-holes. This isn’t so much a repair as it is reinforcement: Stradivari’s top plates are famously thin, and this patch helps prevent damage while preserving tonal integrity. It’s so well matched that the grain nearly disappears into the original wood, no small feat on a patch of that size.
The neck block has, as expected, been replaced. All Stradivarius violins have undergone this adjustment to accommodate modern playing style and string tension. This one appears to have been changed quite early, judging by the patina of the wood.
It’s in outstanding condition.
If you’d like to hear it played, you can listen to Daniel Dodds perform it here. And for those in Australia, the violin will be featured live at the Australian World Orchestra’s Mahlerfest concerts this September (tickets).
The Technical Process
Photographing this instrument required a huge amount of care and preparation. Although I’ve handled many instruments as a performer, I always work with a professional luthier during a photo session. In this case, the brilliant Rainer Beilharz joined me in Melbourne.
To begin, Rainer removed the bridge and strings, allowing us to safely take out the endpin. Through this opening, we could insert the laparoscopes. But first, the inside needed cleaning. We used a traditional method: dry rice. By gently swirling uncooked rice around inside the body of the instrument, dust clings to the grains and can be emptied through the f-holes.
Rainer Beilharz pouring rice with the help of Melbourne musician Peter Mrkusich
Dust may seem harmless, but under magnification it becomes a forest of distraction. Even so, a few stubborn fibres remained—if you look just behind the shaft of light on the right side of the final image, you might spot them.
The photography itself is a multi-hour process. I use a pair of laparoscopes adapted to a Lumix G9ii camera. These scopes are designed for video, not high-resolution stills, so I developed a custom rig involving enlargers and optical adapters to capture maximum detail.
Each scope sees at a 30° angle, not straight ahead. I rotate them in controlled steps to create a panoramic image. I use two different scopes at different angles, then stack dozens of focus layers for each view to overcome the extremely shallow depth-of-field—sometimes only a few millimetres deep.
Light rays and f-hole projections on the back plate are photographed separately. Dark frames are also captured for each position to reduce sensor noise. In total, the final image is composed of over 257 individual frames.
Throughout this, we monitored heat very closely. Each flash firing increases the violin’s surface temperature by up to 2°C. We never allow it to exceed 28°C to protect the varnish, the exact recipe of which remains unknown. Rainer stood by between each shot, monitoring the instrument with a laser thermometer. We waited 10 seconds between photos—those intervals add up fast across hundreds of exposures.
Photographer Charles Brooks
Image Processing
As demanding as the photography is, processing the images may take even longer.
– I use PixInsight to subtract dark frames and reduce noise.
– Helicon Focus handles the focus stacking.
– PTGui assembles the stacked layers into a panorama.
– Photoshop and 3D LUT Creator are used for colour grading, cleanup, and correction of chromatic aberration (a persistent issue with laparoscopes, especially in high-contrast areas).
Violinist Daniel Dodds and photographer Charles Brooks
Prints and Editions
After all of this, the final image is available in several formats:
– Limited Edition Prints: Printed in Australia on fine art paper. Each is hand-signed, stamped, and comes with a certificate of authenticity.
– Aluminium Prints: Available to customers in the USA. Deep gloss finish, no framing required. Printed in Florida by a specialist lab.
– Acrylic Prints: Available worldwide. These are sleek, high-gloss prints mounted with concealed hardware.
– Posters: Available internationally and make excellent gifts.
– Calendars: Available in most regions, excluding Germany, Switzerland, and Australia due to separate distribution agreements.
I hope this photograph brings you a fresh appreciation of what lies hidden within these extraordinary instruments. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
—Charles