Photogram IV
Photograph
1922 (made), ca. 1930 (printed)
1922 (made), ca. 1930 (printed)
Artist/Maker |
Photograms are photographs made without a camera or lens. They are made by placing objects on top of a piece of photographic paper and then exposing the composition to light. Although this is a simple technique, as old as photography itself, Moholy-Nagy revived it and applied it to modern forms of abstraction in art and graphic design. In 1932 he wrote, 'The photogram,… which embodies the unique nature of the photographic process, is the real key to photography. It allows us to capture the patterned interplay of light on a sheet of sensitised paper without recourse to any apparatus.'
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Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | Photogram IV (assigned by artist) |
Materials and techniques | Gelatin silver print |
Brief description | Moholy-Nagy, Laszlo. Photogram IV [sic] 1922. Gelatin-silver print made about 1930. |
Physical description | Abstract black and white photograph of coils and lines |
Dimensions |
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Gallery label | Cameraless Photography
László Moholy-Nagy (1895–1946)
Photogram IV
1925–28, printed 1929
Gelatin silver print
39.5 x 30 cm
Museum no. E.801-1997
Moholy-Nagy began making cameraless photographs in 1922 and coined the term ‘photogram’ in 1925. He and saw it as the artistic equivalent of the X-ray. In 1937, he wrote, ‘The photogram which embodies the unique nature of the photographic process, is the real key to photography. It allows us to capture the patterned interplay of light on a sheet of sensitised paper without the recourse to any apparatus.’ |
Credit line | Copyright L. Moholy-Nagy Foundation |
Summary | Photograms are photographs made without a camera or lens. They are made by placing objects on top of a piece of photographic paper and then exposing the composition to light. Although this is a simple technique, as old as photography itself, Moholy-Nagy revived it and applied it to modern forms of abstraction in art and graphic design. In 1932 he wrote, 'The photogram,… which embodies the unique nature of the photographic process, is the real key to photography. It allows us to capture the patterned interplay of light on a sheet of sensitised paper without recourse to any apparatus.' |
Bibliographic references |
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Collection | |
Accession number | E.801-1997 |
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Record created | February 27, 2004 |
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