Shadowgram - Group Project

Day Two

To make a photogram, you turn out the lights in the darkroom and place an object on a sheet of photosensitized paper, then turn on the lights again--for a moment. After developing and fixing the sheet, you can turn the lights back on, and voila: a negative image. The unexposed area (that is, the area that was under the object) will be white, while the exposed areas will come in black.

But you're not limited to blacks and whites. Any number of gray tones between (and including) black and white are possible by shortening exposure times or picking semi-opaque objects as your photogram subjects. Tissue paper, pieces of loosely woven cloth, or wax paper can produce full-tone abstractions if you layer and expose your subjects properly.

Speaking of subjects: Choosing them is the most intriguing part of photogramming. A trip to the five-and-ten, hobby store, or hardware shop can be an adventure. You'll want objects with crisp, easy-to-identify shapes. Leaves, feathers, shells, lace, ferns, or loosely woven fabrics typically make good photograms.

Tips: When photogramming nonflat objects like leaves or lace, flatten them against the enlarging paper with glass. This assures a crisp outline for your photogram subject, and it keeps lightweight objects like feathers from shifting during exposure.

 

Naturegram: Leaves make good photogram subjects. Only problem? When you use glass to flatten them against enlarging paper, leaves can cause green stains. Solution? Cover the paper with a protective layer of plastic wrap.

(Thanks to Popular Photography 10/94 for this material)

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Picture

Shadogram

Notice the materials used for this shadowgram - some were opaque like the week while others were semi-transparent to transparent like the glass. EXPOSURE will determine how much will show.  Try a leaf from a tree or some cotton....look around you and find things that light can get partially through and see what they look like.

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Steps for processing the print:

1. Place the paper into the developer face up. Put it under quickly. Keep the developer in CONSTANT motion by lifting up the side of the tray and keeping the "wave" of developer in constant motion. A properly exposed print will appear in about 10 seconds and will have a deep righ black where the light hit and a clean white where it was protected after a full 60 seconds in the developer.

2. Place the developed print into the center tray of "stop bath" or rinse water for about 3 seconds.

3. Place the rinsed print into the fixer. It will be safe to look at it under normal room light in about 60 seconds and finished fixing in 10 minutes.

4. Take the fixed print out to the print washer and wash it for 10 minutes. Then take it to the dryer.