ARTS 2356 Photography I ASSIGNMENT: PHOTOGRAMS DUE:

Assignment: Photograms

Photography is often associated with “reality” or the capturing of “reality”. For a beginning photographer, the significance of this assignment is to experience the photographic medium without the distraction of this familiar association between photography and “reality.”

A photogram consists of a photographic print or image being made without the traditional use of a negative. A photogram is made by placing any two or three dimensional object or objects between a light source and light-sensitive photographic paper. A wide range of values and details may be achieved with this process depending on the nature (shape, opacity, reflective quality texture, etc.) of the objects used. While making photograms all elements of design (composition, form, line, value, etc.) should be considered.

For this assignment you will make several photograms on 8x10 paper. Use the images of landscapes/environments/place and still-lifes that you have collected in your journal as a guide for your photograms. You may choose to emulate an individual image directly or use combinations of the images to build a new composition. You may find it helpful to make simplified sketches of the original images. Study the images and sketches in your journal, giving consideration to the following: value (lights/darks), line, shape, pattern, texture, and composition. Collect objects considering their physicals properties such as shape, contour, reflective quality, texture, and opacity and how you think light will react... reflect and/or pass-through these objects. Please do not bring liquids or fine powdery/grainy/gritty substances to use for your photogram assignment... in other words, do not bring anything that would make a mess in the darkroom or that would leave a residue on the paper and therefore contaminate the photographic chemicals.

For critique: 3 photograms - photograms should be printed on 8x10 paper. choose your best three for critique and have your reference images and sketches available during critique. you do not need to take the images/sketches out of your journal.