Photogram Research
Photogram: the process of using objects and negatives to obstruct photographic paper then exposing it to light and developing.
Christian Schad
Christian Schad began his photographical work in the early 20th century, being one of the first to enter the realm of abstract photography. He broke conventions of photography at the time, creating work that opposed the clean cut and pristine photography that was more common. He would do this through the technique of photograms. "Shadographs" was a term he coined in order to describe his work as it rose in popularity.
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Man Ray
Man ray was a visionary artist known for his work throughout the 1920s. This was also the time where he would create photograms with a surrealist yet abstract aesthetic that eventually became recognised as "rayographs". He used mostly inanimate objects such as spools of tape, coils or wires, often circular in shape to create his work. These objects come together to create an eye-cathcing layout of intriguing abstract shapes, overlapping and intertwining to create what we know as rayographs.
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
Moholy-Nagy would use objects often that were naturalistic such as shells, flowers as well as his own hand in multiple of his photograms. Known as one of Bauhaus's most influential teachers, his work became inspirational and he was known as being "relentlessly experimental", as said by the art critic Peter Schjeldahl. Moholy-Nagy is also the photographer who coined the term "photograms" The use of his own hands in his photograms, to me, makes them feel more personal and therefore enjoyable to observe.
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Ruth Erdt
Since the early 80s, Erdt has been a recognised advocate for feminism, she uses the medium of photography to address everyday matters and express her identity. In 2009, Erdt began a series of photograms called "The Naked House", displaying the silhouettes of women, often with weaponry such as guns, displaying female empowerment. There are also photograms of women shown in box structures perhaps to show how women are restricted in society. Unlike most photogram artists, Erdt works on very large scale pieces, using real physical people and objects to create her photograms. This makes the figures in her work more life-like and therefore even more impactful.
Suzan Rankaitis
Beginning her career in the 70s, Rankaitis has since created a multitude of interactive and thought provoking work. She has also been a instructor in photography since 1978. Her work is often a colourful display of abstract shapes and marks made by the process of making the photograms. Unlike most photogram artists, Rankaitis work has a great variety of colour. Allowing the process of creating photograms yo create shape makes these abstract shapes are almost organic looking, very rounded and without clear cut edges or straight lines. I think her work draws out a sence of calm and has a very serine feel to it.
Experimentation
Here are my first experiments in the dark room.
This was my first experimental photogram. this experiment was successful. However, I wanted more contrast with a deeper background and more visible highlights and shadows
4 seconds. |
This was my second attempt. Here, I exposed the light for longer and soaked the light sensitive paper in the developer for longer.
5.5 seconds. |
With this experiment, I was fully satisfied with the contrast.
7 seconds. |
This photogram was
another success in my opinion. For this photogram, contrast is even higher, giving it a more opaque appearance. This could be because of around 6 seconds of exposure and a longer time in the developer. |
This photogram was also one that I was happy with. although the contrast is not as visible as I was aiming for, I really like how the wired earphones came out. They look slightly transparent almost like an x-ray and they also look wispy and fluid creating a ghostly feeling.
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Final piece
After experimenting with the process of creating photograms, and becoming confident, I made a larger and more detailed photogram to go on display in my school in A3 size.
Cyanotypes
Joy Gregory
Joy Gregory explores the natural and societal aspects of her own life through her work in the form of cyanotypes. She references her personal journey of modelling and her connection to nature through cyanotypes and other photographic work. I think her deep connection to her own identity is brilliantly represented through her work. The clothing cyanotypes could represent her modelling career and how a person is seen only for the clothes and not themselves. These prints compared and contrasted with her work surrounding nature seem to encapsulate her sense of self.
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I began with taking two images. One of tree branches and one of man-made stripes. For my stripes I chose the rigid horizontal lines on a building. I then edited these images, first making them black and white and then inverting the colours. To turn them into negatives I increased the exposure on the printer and then I printed them onto acetate. I love the blue of cyanotypes as it adds a vibrant yet moody feel to any photo.
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To make the cyanotype, I took the negatives I made and overlapped them on top of a piece of cyanotype paper and left it all out in the sun to develop for 30 mins. I then soaked it in a water and bleach mixture to speed up the oxidation process.
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- Much like Joy Gregory, I wanted to combine aspects of my own life with nature for my cyanotypes.
- I think the cyanotype would have had good composition if it had come out how I intended - I think I needed to leave the cyanotype out in the sun for longer to capture the full image - one thing that I like about cyanotypes is the shades of blue that create the image, in my opinion, it creates a completely new aesthetic in addition to the original photographs |
Lumen Prints
Lumen prints are photograms created by using flowers as negatives on light sensitive paper that are developed in UV light, usually the sun. To create my lumen print, I used fresh flowers. When collecting my flowers, I tried to get a variety of different shapes with different stems and petals to make my print more exciting. I then framed the flowers on top of photographic/light sensitive paper and left it by the window to develop. Lumen prints are a process of leaving a negative under or in exposure of UV light, making it a photographic process.
While the flowers and mould were still in the frame before I washed the print, I thought it actually looked quite beautiful and reminded me of Seung-Hwan Oh’s portraits. The colourful mould obscures and distorts the original portraits. This could be a representation of time and how time changes people people or distorts them.
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Mould close-ups before removing the flowers and frame:
Pin-hole Camera
A pinhole camera is a light tight container with a black interior. Light can enter the container through a pinhole and what is outside the container is exposed to photographic paper at the back of the container. Where light is exposed to the photographic paper, the paper is left darker and so the image needs to be inverted to get the correct shades in the correct places. A pinhole camera is arguably the most simplified version of a camera and similar structurally to the first cameras in the world. The structure creates this whispy and almost ghostly quality the the photographs taken. That comes to life when inverted to get the correct tonal values.
After inverting the images, the potential I saw in the unedited photographs was brought to life. Some of my photos had these brown marks that appeared after developing them, and once inverted they became these smoky blue patterns that, in my opinion, added this strange and mysterious quality.