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Photograms

This and all of the processes we are doing are all new to me. This one like many others includes the use of the darkroom and some chemicals. What happens is light sensitive paper is exposed to light when an object is placed on it. The creates the effect seen below, the black is the exposure of light and the white is the object blocking the light. The paper is exposed with and enlarger which can be set in different F stops and for different amount of time. An enlarger is not a necessity for simple experimentation as one can use a simple torch. The specific paper below was exposed on f8 for 10 seconds. After the paper is exposed to light it is dipped in 3 separate chemicals. First it goes into the developer for a minute and a half, moved to stop for 30 seconds, in the fix for 4 minutes and lastly washed in water and hung up to dry. 

This process was often used in the 1830's before the advancing of camera photography. Henry Fox Talbot was one of the people that used this process to create photographs of his botanical specimen. Photograms regained popularity in the early 20th Century with the help of Man Ray who called the photograms Rayographs instead. 



























Information citation: McNeill, S., 2020. Photograms - A Magical Concept. [online] AlternativePhotography.com. Available at: <https://www.alternativephotography.com/photograms-cameraless-photography/> [Accessed 12 December 2020].

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