Christian Schad
Christian Schad is a German painter and photographer who was born in 1894 in Miesbach, Germany. His work was mainly based on making Schadographs, photograms and paintings. He created photograms on printing paper which was later known as Schadographs. Most of his famous works were made around 1918 as they were some of the earliest abstract photographs using the photogram technique. Schad did this by intentionally covering the surfaces of paper with various objects and left them to develop. He mainly used materials such as fabric and scraps of paper. Schad would also frequently cut a jagged border around the Schadographs which he described it as ''freeing them from the convention of the square.'' His photograms give very abstract aesthetics and they all use a wide range of object that have then been abstracted from his windowsill to change into dark, abstracted images. These photograms give me a feeling of thought about how much photographs can change if you abstract them. These photographs have shown true depiction in many ways as they were some of the earliest schadographs and photograms and the history of photography correlating lots of different feelings towards the images.
Man Ray
Man Ray is an American visual artist and photographer who was born in 1890 in Philadelphia, USA. His work was mainly based on making photograms and rayographs. His work was very diverse and it consisted of paintings, object art and film making. This helped him make a significant contribution to the evaluation of photography with his different forms of art. His most famous works came from around the 1920s where he would specifically make images based from rayographs. Ray was originally inspired by cubism and expressionism until he eventually started to add a variety of different movements into his work. First, he added Dadaism into his work which brought new challenges with the perceptions of art and literature where he then started advocating to gain spontaneity. Now he is the leading figure in Dadaism movement to this day. His rayographs give a variety of different aesthetics with not only the abstracted rayograph but also the abstracted objects on the rayograph. These rayographs give an eerie vibe as there are many objects you would see naturally in the world as normal but they look completely shifted in the rayographs and have totally been changed.
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian painter and photographer who was born in 1895. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts. Due to this he was seen as relentlessly experimental by the famous artist Peter Schjeldahl. Moholy-Nagy did works in pioneering, painting, photography, collage, drawing, film, writing and many more other topics of art and photography. His most famous works came from around the 1920s when he started making photograms. At this time photograms were a relatively new photographical feature so his works became famous very quickly. These photograms show a variety of different objects being utilised in many different abstracted features. They give me a feeling that there is more hope of more advanced discoveries of photography to be made in future as these were discovered a century ago and still to this day is one of the most influential discoveries in the history of photography. These photograms are also truly depicted as they show a true representation of what photograms should look like during that time period.
Susan Rankaitis
Susan Rankaitis was born in 1949 and she is an American photographer and artist who specialised in abstract photography and photograms. Her most influential works were her science referenced ephemeral site specific installations. She created an installation work in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2005 where she weaved brightly coloured plastic tubes in tree branches. In this photograph I can see lots of different objects that have been abstracted to have a darkened look. This photograph represents many different dark and abstracted photographs and may have been made through using different objects which were then abstracted to create a darkened look. This photograph gives me a mixed feeling of how different colours and abstracted photograms can be used in one photograph and they showcase a true depiction of how photograms should be made in a high quality. It could also be reliable as a piece of historical knowledge as the photograms have been used at a variety of galleries and are some of the highest quality photograms of recent history. These photograms show a true depiction of photography as they have a lot of history and are in some of the most famous galleries with photograms so they are highly influential during this time.
Richard Caldicott
Richard Caldicott was born in 1962 and he is an English fine art artist and photographer who specialised in fine art and photograms. His most influential works came around the 1980s when he graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1987 where his work has been established in solo and group exhibitions. His photographs are well known for containing specific arrangements of Tupperware containers as well as his tape drawings. Caldicott has been active since 1983 and he is still making photograms with minimal aesthetic and focus through his extensive artistic career. These photograms symbolise a mixture of different abstracted effects in black and white with one half white and the other half grey with white and black lines for objects showcasing a variety of different effects. To this day the photograms still have a big effect on photography as they are some of the most famous photograms and can inspire people to make photograms just like his. It can be relevant for historical knowledge swell as they were some of the better developed and more recent photograms. These photograms make me think that they are a truthful depiction of its subject as it shows a clear depiction of photograms in the history of photography and symbolises how successful they were.
Experiments
For my first photo I positioned the building around the centre of the photograph with the background being filled with string, a bar and a lamppost with fencing nearby the buildings. What went well with this photo was that the objects had been abstracted firmly and sharply to be clear in the photograph making a very sophisticated outcome. However, this outcome could've been better if the buildings had been centred more rather than been slightly slanted to the left.
For my second photo I positioned different keyring around the bottom right of the photograph with the background being filled with black and white colouring white different objects abstracted into that style. What went well with this photo was that the black and white colouring came out perfectly with no issues with any of the shading. However, this outcome could've been better if the objects had been positioned closer to the centre to add more of an effect to the photograph
For my third photo I positioned the photogram in a position where there could be two different shadings of one half in black and another half in white with different objects for the shading. What went well with this photo was that the different colouring of black and white were sophisticated very well showing a clear sharpness of the colours. However, this outcome could've been better if the white shading had been further down so there could've been more of a shading of white alongside the black.
For my final photo I positioned the photogram where different black and white shadings were accessible for the photograph to showcase a mixture of black and white in different aspects and areas of the photograph. What went well with this photo was that there were different shadings of white in different areas to mix in with the black. However, this outcome could've been better if the white colouring was more sharp and sophisticated.
Final Outcomes
For my final project I decided to use an image aesthetic to overlay over the photogram whilst also adding different objects to correlate with the photogram.
Cyanographs
To make these cyanographs I had to process many different steps through photoshop to make the images suitable to be used to make cyanographs. First I got a picture of a variety of different trees and put the image into photoshop. Next I changed the colouring of the image into black and white. Finally, I inverted the two images to create a more sharp outcome to finish off the negative images to create the cyanographs.
Lumen Prints
Lumen prints are a type of photography made through using flowers on ultraviolet light on paper. Lumen prints are made because they can capture the different variety of nature and reflect the beauty of flowers within photographs. They can be very convincing to an audience as it is a unique kind of photography.
This is a photographic process as paper is used underneath the flowers then the ultraviolet rays of light reflect on the paper to create a lumen print photograph.
They are made through placing flowers on paper and then putting the paper in a frame which then has glass over it, after that the paper is compressed down to make a negative on ultraviolet paper which creates a lumen print. The main reason why flowers are used for lumen prints is because of their high photosensitivity rate causing an effect that looks similar to an x-ray.
To make my lumen print I gathered different flowers from a field alongside pieces of grass which I then placed on pieces of paper and which I then put into a frame, then I compressed the frame downwards to stick the flowers onto the paper which was then refracted with ultraviolet light rays to create the final outcome of the lumen print.
What worked well with my print was that the pieces of grass and flowers were compressed very well with the paper so the outcomes came out very sharply.
If I could improve it, I would gather more flowers and a different variety of them so that the outcomes would be even sharper and look even more convincing to an audience.
This is a photographic process as paper is used underneath the flowers then the ultraviolet rays of light reflect on the paper to create a lumen print photograph.
They are made through placing flowers on paper and then putting the paper in a frame which then has glass over it, after that the paper is compressed down to make a negative on ultraviolet paper which creates a lumen print. The main reason why flowers are used for lumen prints is because of their high photosensitivity rate causing an effect that looks similar to an x-ray.
To make my lumen print I gathered different flowers from a field alongside pieces of grass which I then placed on pieces of paper and which I then put into a frame, then I compressed the frame downwards to stick the flowers onto the paper which was then refracted with ultraviolet light rays to create the final outcome of the lumen print.
What worked well with my print was that the pieces of grass and flowers were compressed very well with the paper so the outcomes came out very sharply.
If I could improve it, I would gather more flowers and a different variety of them so that the outcomes would be even sharper and look even more convincing to an audience.
Pinhole Camera
To make the pinhole camera I used a small can of crisps where I then painted the inside of the can all in black. Next I used a sharp tool to make a small pin in a piece of metal which I then placed on the camera. After that I used black tape to then stick the metal piece on the camera and create an opener for the camera with the tape to create a shutter for the camera to then finish off the pinhole camera.
Pinhole Camera Images
For my first image I put the darkroom paper inside the crisp can with the shiny side facing the pinhole which I then took outside and timed it for 7 seconds which I then put it into the developer and then the other chemicals to then complete my outcome. For my second image I repeated the same process however on this occasion I timed it for 10 seconds to try and get a clearer outcome. The outcome did develop better for that image however it still didn't develop fully.
1. Research pinhole photographer
2. Included photos of the camera
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2. Included photos of the camera
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