What are photograms?
A photogram/rayograph is a picture produced by placing different objects on light sensitive paper, without the use of a camera. The usual result is an x-ray like shadow that shows different types of tones depending on the transparency of the objects used. If areas of the paper turn white that means it has received no light . You make a photogram by placing objects on to light sensitive paper, exposing the paper with light for roughly 2 seconds then putting the paper into three solutions for 2 minutes which are called 'the developer, the stop and the fix' this has to be done in a darkroom, which has dim red lights which allows you to see without exposing the paper to light. Man Ray was an artist well known for using this technique. He produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all. Rayographs are named after him. Laszlo Moholy Nagy was also well known for producing photograms. |
My experiment My first photogram came out quite bad because there was a lot of space left I didn't put the objects in a nice format. The objects did come out quite well though.. To improve I should use more objects and lay them out differently. I think I should have used more creative objects as well.. My photogram would have looked really good if I had more objects. A few of my objects didn't come out very well because of the way I placed it so next time I need to make sure everything is flat. I should have placed my objects in a nicer composition so it looked neater too. My second photogram was really good and all of the objects came out really well as I exposed it for the correct time and placed my objects so they were flat. I really liked the composition of it because it looked tidy and the objects went well together. To improve I could have added a few more objects to it. |
Man Ray
Ray was an American Modernist artist spent most of his career in Paris. He tried out many different types of media but classed himself as a painter. He worked with an artist named Marcel Duchamp and together they collaborated and formed the New York group of Dada artists. He continued to explore different artistic media and focussed on the energy of his paintings and sculptures. In his final years, he continued to exhibit his art with shows in New York, London, Paris and many more other cities. He sadly passed away in November 18th, 1976. There are some images of his to the right. |