Photogram Inspiration

When researching, I came across some interesting photograms.  Some consist of objects, some consist of images, and others a mix of images and objects.  These photograms caught my eye for their texture and motion.  The first photogram below has a lot of grey tones, while the second one has much less.

Adam Fuss


David Fried

Old Process/New Artist

The Chlorophyll Process

The Chlorophyll Process was first used by Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey.  This is a very organic process, as it uses sunlight and the pigment found in leafs.  The sunlight bleaches a positive onto a leaf, resulting in stunning images that take on an interesting shape and texture.

The Process:
1. Choose a leaf.
-Broad and flat leaves are preferable.
-Cut the stem down low and at an angle, keeping as much of it as possible.
-Put the steam in a vase to keep the leaf from wilting.

2. Choose an image and create the positive/transparency.
-Choose a positive with high contrast to improve the clarity of the final print.

3. Arrange the positive on top of the leaf, then put a sheet of glass over the arrangement.
-Arrange the positive and leaf so the stem is sticking out of the glass sheet.
-Use a rubber band to secure a small bag of water to the stem.  Only do this if you want to keep the leaf from drying out.

4. Place in direct sunlight.

5. Checking and removing your print.
-After leaving the print out for at least 24 hours in direct sunlight, check if the bleaching process is transpiring.
-When the bleaching process is done, peel the off positive slowly, as the leaves can be fragile, thin and damp.

6. Preserving the Chlorophyll print.
-When not on display, press the leaf in a book away from direct sunlight.
-Another way to preserve the print is to cover it in a layer of UV stabilizer polyester resin.  This allows you to preserve the print longer while keeping it on display.

Information found at Alternative Photography.

Below is some work from contemporary photographers who use the Chlorophyll Process.

Rachel Sokal

Binh Danh

Binh Danh

Binh Danh has some moving stories behinds his work.  He finds photos from the Vietnamese War and turns them into Chlorophyll prints.  His images are ghost-like and have beautiful textures.  I recommenced you check out his website and this interesting video where he explains the chlorophyll process and how his work connects to those who passed away in war.

After quite a bit of research, I think it is safe to say there aren't many contemporary photographers who practice the chlorophyll process.  This is likely do to the fact that it is difficult to preserve these fragile yet inciting prints.

Project 12: Stop Motion Animation

Project 11: Utopia vs Dystopia Silent Films

Project 10: Magazine Mockup

Click here to go to the Gibson digital magazine.

Project 9: Two Portraits- Commercial and Fine Art

Fine Art Portraits:

Commercial Portrait Magazine Covers:

Project 9 Inspiration: Two Portraits- Commercial and Fine Art

Fine Art Portraits:

Peter Lindbergh

This is a wet plate collodion photograph.  The metallic look and contrast makes this portrait mesmerizing.  The model is in the center of the frame and is looking directly into the camera, which makes the viewer feel stared at, making this photo intense.  Not only his eyes, but his serious facial expression makes this portrait more dynamic.  This photo has beautiful textures, brown tones, intense shadows and hard lighting, which sets this apart from many contemporary portraits that have subtle and soft lighting.  In addition, the extremely shallow depth of field puts emphasis on the models face, even more so, his eyes.  

Jimmy Nelsson

This portrait has more of a modern, digital look.  The model is centered in the middle of the frame, which puts emphasis on his face.  The contrast between the white fur coat and his pink face makes this photo pop.  This has soft and smooth light, which creates sharp details.  This photo has a deeper depth of field than the portrait above to get the fur coat in focus.  An extremely shallow depth of field is not needed for this photo because there are no distracting elements in the background.  The model has a stern facial expression, which creates a neutral feeling; this photo isn't dark nor joyful.  It looks like Jimmy Nelsson took up the contrast and details when editing, but didn't over do it.

Commercial Portrait Magazine Covers:

Zachary Scott

This magazine cover caught my eye for it's symmetrical symmetry and contrast in scale and color.  This magazine has a clean layout- a creamy white background with a red trim, smooth lighting, a large title reading "TIME", a smaller sub-title, and very small font for the text above the main title.  The bigger the font, the more important the information is.  The photograph contains a young boy who looks shy, and a loud siren, which implies power, which goes with the featured article "The Power of (Shyness)."  For this reason, this makes the consumer want to buy the magazine to read the article.  The subject is in the lower third of the cover, allowing room for text.  In addition, "TIME" is a very intellectual and professional magazine, so they used a professional font, which looks like Times New Roman, and a clean and simple yet intriguing cover photograph.

 Eastman Photographer

I found this magazine in my house, and found it to have strong composition- the model, Jeff Bridges, has a serious look on face and is resting his arm on a guitar, putting emphasis on the product.  To make Eastman Guitars and Mandolins seem high quality and classy, they used a famous actor wearing classy clothes doing a classy pose.  The model intrigues the reader, as he is looking into the camera with his hand on his face, which also makes the guitar seem intriguing, making the reader want to read more about it.  The model is positioned towards the left half of the cover, making room for the main text in the upper right hand corner.  The title font is a classy cursive, which is cohesive with the classy photograph.  This photograph has studio lighting, a normal contrast level, and has instruments on the background to create a recording studio mood.

Comparisons Between the Two Types of Portraits:

The fine art portraits provide insight into the model's and the photographer's lives.  The photographer uses unique angles and makes edits they like to create a specific mood.  On the other hand, Commercial Portraits are used to make people buy the product and or magazine.  The composition of these photographs are less abstract, and usually provide more negative space for text.