Monday, March 16, 2009

Dying practices: Photograms an almost non existant process.

Do you know what a photogram is? Have you stepped into a darkroom and made one? If you have not, and do not know what a photogram is than it is time to learn. Photograms are essentially a piece of photographic paper (Black and white light sensitve paper) with objects placed on the paper and then exposed to light. The objects block the light, (some times light passes through them slighlty creating an interesting look) and the remaining parts of the paper are exposed and create a piece of art. You can take these ideas steps further by using toners or other principlas to create an oustanding piece of art. One of the most creative photogram processes that I had seen being done, was when a pervious photography professor used flowers to make photograms and then applied color toners and some other toning processes to create a dynamic photogram.

Photograms are a dying process. As the photography medium progresses forward with technology and the ever expanding digital era, traditional photograms are almost non existant. One process I have seen that is replacing photograms in the analog darkroom, is using a flat bed scanner and creating a digital photogram. Even this is still a process some people do not think of, know of, or care to produce. Thus leaving some people left to dominate the process. As basic as the ideas are, you can still produce some amazing pieces.

Give it a try! You wont be disappointed.

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