ABSTRACTED LIGHT: EXPERIMENTAL PHOTOGRAPHY
2024-11-18The works in this exhibition represent a variety of approaches to light abstraction, starting with the photogram process. One of the earliest forms of photography, a photogram is made by placing objects directly on chemically treated paper and exposing them to light to capture their silhouettes. Photographers revived this technique as they sought novel ways to create abstract images. The Hungarian-born artist Lászlo Moholy-Nagy, working in Germany, became one of the photogram’s fiercest advocates, writing that it enabled photographers to “sketch with light” in the same way that painters work with paintbrushes and pigment. In Paris, the American expatriate Man Ray also embraced the photogram, mistakenly claiming that he had invented the technique and naming it the “Rayograph” after himself. Through international exhibitions and photography journals, the popularity of the photogram spread far and wide.
Opposite – Vortex, 1933, Edward W. Quigley.
Exhibition runs through to November 24th, 2024
J. Paul Getty Museum
1200 Getty Center Drive
Los Angeles
CA 90049
