Glass Photograms Experiment

I have decided to do my final project using photograms. I liked the turnout of the last experimentation and I got the idea of using glass. After these tests I loved the outcome and the detail that came out using the glass. I have documented the time the paper is exposed for an the aperture used to keep improving. I was leaving them exposed for 3 seconds because I was using my hand and did not want that the images come out too shaky. So I set the aperture to 11 at first but it was too much (Image 4), experimented with 22 which was not enough (Image 6) and decided to work with 16 and it was just what I wanted (Image 3). Once I got the best setting I moved on to experiment in positioning. I did no want the hand to look so harsh (Image 1) and so I experimented with 'double exposure' (Image 2). for this outcome, I put the glass on the paper and exposed it for 1.5 seconds, then I put my hand and exposed it again for 1.5 seconds.

I would like to keep experimenting like image 2 mostly for the rest of my experimentations. I like that the detail still shows of the glass rather than being blocked out completely like image 1. There is also more experimenting on the glass regarding positioning and composition.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

Image 6

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László Moholy-nagy

Fotogramm (Moholy-nagy, I., 1926) Hungarian artist László Moholy-nagy was the one to bring back photographs as an artistic expression starting with the image seen here titled Fotogramm. According to the website Moholy-nagy foundation, he was the one to first coin the term Photogram from his exploration from 1922 to 1943. Seeing the photogram titled Fotogramm I am very interested in the technique he used, even the shades that are shown in the image. What has been mentioned in articles is that he used his hands, a paintbrush and unrecognizable pieces of strings. So far I have only done little experimentation but I think he might have exposed light to it several times, similar to what is done for long exposure. Moholy-nagy inspired many artist to take on this technique from his students he thought at the school of Design in Chicago to artists like Arthur Siegel and Thomas Ruff. Looking more into his work I have noticed that he has used different materials to produce the photog...

Long Exposure

As for this techniques I was more familiar with it as we had done it before in previous lectures. It is very simple and there is a lot of room for experimentation. The ones that we did were light painting and multiple exposure. Both of these techniques would require the camera to be on a tripod and to have a long shutter speed. This means the settings would be around f3.5 100 ISO and shutter speed varying from 1 second to longer, depending on how much time you need to produce the image. For light painting you are free to choose any types of lights and experiment with different ones to see their affects. We only had our mobile torches but used different objects to change the colour like a blue glove and a bottle with pink liquid. As for the multiple exposure we used one light and a remote to use the flash whenever we wanted. So we pressed the shutter while someone did a pose and the other flashed the light, the person would change the pose while the other presses the flash to get d...

Test Finals

After the last experimentation the next step was to plan for finals. I like the structure and composition of these photograms but there were some problems with light leaks and chemicals. I will need to try these experimentations again and have the final images improved from here onwards. As for the photograms themselves, I used glass and my hands, meaning I had someone help me to use the equipment. The settings were the same for all that was tested out last time which would be aperture on f16 and time on 3 seconds which were split to 1.5 and 1.5 seconds. Same as before I would put the glass and expose for 1.5 seconds, leave the glass and add my hand to the desired position and expose for 1.5 seconds again. I wanted a short time like 3 seconds to not get any hand shake, which is what happened when I first used my hands for the photograms.

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