Photograms
After nearly two years of not stepping foot inside a darkroom, it was really good to get back to the witchcraft that is camera-less photography. I have touched on photograms in a previous body of work and though some may argue that my method was a slight stretch from the original technique of a photogram, some including myself, it still follows the same principle of putting an object between the light source and photo paper. That said I'm almost using my leaf in place of a negative but just for sake's sake, we will call it 100% photogram.
My reason for doing it this way is the ability it gives you to focus in on the details of the leaf. The veins and the midrib become main focus in the image and the fact the leaf is not being held flat or just being photographed, you get odd spots that are not in focus. Its those little elements that make it attractive to my eye Seeing the image come in and out of focus in a very unconventional fashion is just not natural but for me it works and compliments the intricacy of the leaf structure.
My reason for doing it this way is the ability it gives you to focus in on the details of the leaf. The veins and the midrib become main focus in the image and the fact the leaf is not being held flat or just being photographed, you get odd spots that are not in focus. Its those little elements that make it attractive to my eye Seeing the image come in and out of focus in a very unconventional fashion is just not natural but for me it works and compliments the intricacy of the leaf structure.
Chemigrams
This method of camera-less photography is a bit hit an miss. I'd imagine that you would need a serious amount of practice to be able to produce two images that are even slightly similar. These experiments are just a stab in the dark at what could be achieved. I've used butter and petroleum jelly (Vaseline) to do my drawings on the paper then they've been dunked in some developer. Now I know the outcomes aren't going to win any prizes, but as far as method being put into practise goes, I would say I'm bang on. This method isn't for everyone and to be honest it's not really for me, but it is a fun way of creating random, abstract pieces of art. If it does capture your imagination then take a look at Pierre Cordier, the original master and creator of the chemigram.