Photograms

Man Ray August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976 was an American modernist artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal. He produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all. He was best known in the art world for his avant-garde photography, and he was a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. Ray is also noted for his work with photograms, which he called "rayographs" in reference to himself.

'Gun with Alphabet Stencils' Rayograph - Man Ray 1924

The Getty Museum

In this photogram there is a gun and alphabet letters, when analysing this and researching this I found that this photgram has no particular meaning and is deliberately ambiguous. I felt that it was ambiguous because I felt that the gun did not relate to anything because of how it has no barrel and is cocked back, meaning it is not possible to fire it. I also felt that it has no meaning because the letters also don't spell out anything. I feel that there could have been either two light sources, light was diffused or the object could have been moved.

Photogram, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

The Metropolitan Museum - New York

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts. When analysing this photogram I felt that it was abstract and childlike and feel that Moholy-Nagy used objects like the paintbrush, guitar and a hand to show this. To cause the effect of the hand being see through I feel that he had his hand placed under the light for a short period of time. I like how he has done this, then moved his hand again and exposed it again under the light. I like the this photogram and the objects he has used because the way he has arranged them shows depth to the photo.     

My Photograms