Photogram
フォトグラム / 1830s– / avant-garde revival / Technique / Photographic Techniques
No camera is involved. Objects laid on the sensitive surface and exposed to light turn contour, transparency and distance into the picture.
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At a glance
Visual cues
- Cameraless
- Object contours
- Reversed values
- Contact and distance
Best used for
- Recording small objects of differing transparency by contour and tone alone
- Work that shows the experiment with light itself, without a camera
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Dictionary entry
- Type
- For letters, lay cut stencils on the paper and leave them reversed
- Composition
- Treat the sheet edge as the frame and choose contact or a gap
- Material
- Photo paper, lamp height, exposure time, distance controlling edge hardness
- Caution
- This is not black and white abstraction in general. Merely arranging unusual objects records only shadows, while transparency and distance from the sensitized surface are what make the image.
- Further study
- Anna Atkins / Man Ray / László Moholy-Nagy
Related entries
- Cyanotype (サイアノタイプ)Same Photographic Techniques lineage.Compare Photogram and Cyanotype
- Dada (ダダ)Shared effects: Play.Compare Photogram and Dada
Often confused with
More from Photographic Techniques
Continue through styles in the same Photographic Techniques family, prioritised by shared effects.
- Photomontage (フォトモンタージュ)Shared effects: Play.
- Chronophotography (連続写真／クロノフォトグラフィ)Shared effects: Technique.
- The Decisive Moment (決定的瞬間)Shared effects: Calm.
Browse all Photographic Techniques entries
Cite this entry
The dictionary is meant to be linked to. Take whichever form fits where you are writing.
- Link
- https://indexstyle.org/styles/photogram
- Markdown
- [Photogram — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/photogram)
- HTML
- <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/photogram">Photogram — IndexStyle</a>