Slide 1
An object meets sensitive paper
A photogram can be made by placing objects on light-sensitive material and exposing it. No camera lens is required to form the image.
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The object interrupts the light before it reaches the surface. The result records a relationship between object, illumination and paper rather than a conventional view through a camera.
Slide 2
Opacity creates a silhouette
An opaque object can leave a pale shape on a photogram because it prevents light from reaching the sensitive surface beneath it.
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A translucent object can produce intermediate tones instead. Thickness and transparency influence the image, so visually similar objects may leave quite different photographic traces.
Slide 3
Contact gives a physical scale
An object resting directly on the paper can leave an image close to its own size. The photograph becomes a trace of physical contact.
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Moving an object away from the surface changes how its shadow is formed. A photogram's edges therefore contain clues about arrangement as well as the object's outline.
Slide 4
A unique arrangement makes an image
Many photograms are individual works made from a particular arrangement and exposure. Recreating that arrangement exactly can be difficult.
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Artists such as László Moholy-Nagy explored the method as a creative practice. Ordinary objects could become unfamiliar patterns when their photographic traces replaced their usual appearance.
Slide 5
Cameraless does not mean one method
Photograms belong to a wider family of cameraless photographs. Different processes can make images without placing recognisable objects on paper.
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The Victoria and Albert Museum distinguishes methods involving direct light and chemical action as well as contact images. Identifying the process helps explain which physical event produced the visible marks.
Sources
- Cameraless photography
Victoria and Albert Museum
- Photographic processes
Victoria and Albert Museum