Photograms/Rayographs
What is a Photogram/Rayograph? Photograms or Rayographs are camera-less images created by placing objects on a photo sensitive surface and exposing them to light. Where the object touches the surface it will protect it from the light, leaving a white or pale grey impression (depending on its opacity). If light is able to get underneath the object the surface will change in tone. If there is no protection at all the paper will turn black. Anna Atkins created photogram-like images using paper that could be exposed in sunlight and developed and fixed in water. Photograms/Rayographs are the result of experiments in the darkroom where chemicals (Developer/Stop/Fix) are used to activate the image which is finally washed in running water. Rayographs are the name given to photograms by the artist Man Ray. Otherwise they are the same type of image. How do you make a photogram? Firstly you choose a series of objects. You arrange these objects on a piece of light sensitive photographic paper. This is then exposed to light for a few seconds. The paper is then taken over to the wet area of the darkroom and soaked in a series of chemicals. The main chemicals used in the darkroom are developer, which causes the silver iodide of the paper emulsion to darken if it has been exposed to light, and fixer, which removes the undeveloped silver iodide from the emulsion. A chemical used to completely stop the development process is called stop bath, and is used between the developer stage and the fixer stage. |