Photograms

What are Photograms?

A Photogram is  photographic image made without the use of a camera. This process works based of placing objects onto the surface of a light-sensitive material, normally photographic paper, and then exposing it to light. The results from this mostly result in a negative shadow image which shows variation of tone, depending on what objects are used.

From researching further into photograms I learnt some tips for altering and adjusting the photogram results:
-The variation in tone can be changed by using various transparencies in the objects.
- Areas which are white have had received no light
- Areas which are grey have received some light
- Areas which are black have received full light


This technique was often used by Man Ray, who in some ways was thought to have brought back this technique in his own way, although he called his own work 'Rayograms'


Example Photograms

This was one of the photograms made by Man Ray. It made use of various objects which related to photography. I thought that this piece gave a good example of how different objects react to the process. The glass to the right of the image is variating shades between black and white. I feel that this just makes the piece look more mysterious.

This photogram I felt was much more complex in comparison to other ones. They make use of a lot more transparent objects, rather than heavy opaque objects.












My Own Photograms

I had the chance to make my own photograms. I thought this would make for a good experiment for testing the ideas of 'Negative Images'. I always find this interesting as although it can be created through photoshop, getting the Negative Image in a physical form seems much more interesting.

Attempt 1

For my first attempt, I used a cog, some feathers and a chain. I wanted to show the chain wrapped around the cog and feathers, connecting them. This however didn't worked as planned. The objects are hard to make out and are not the most visible. With this in mind I thought of how I could modify the set up so that it was more visible.














Attempt 2

In this version I prolonged the exposure so that more light would get to it. This meant the objects are much more visible. This added a reflection effect to the chain which I thought was rather interesting. The only negative thought I had to this version was that there wasn't much variation in shade. It was rather pure white and a single grey. I thought that making the shades vary further.














Attempt 3

My third attempt worked really well I thought. There is much greater variation in shades and what I find most interesting is the streams of white through the photogram. I found that with this version, although the objects were again faded, various patterns had formed throughout the image. The pattern in the bottom left corner I thought was good as it really captured the variating shades idea that I wanted.