Artist research.

·       Photograms

·       Pinhole

·       Scanners

 Photogram:

Ethan Jantzer

Ethan Jantzer first started his photogram career whilst experimenting in a photo lab. He liked to experiment with raw film and lights. Anything that he thought was interesting he experimented with such as fish, twine and grass. To get the colour on his photos he used liquids like Gatorade and Windex.

He says his work is unique yet he still keeps on trying to make it better.

Ethan Jantzer grew up in a creative family. His mum was an artist and encouraged him to be creative. He never believed his hobby would lead him to where he is now.

Quote by Ethan Jantzer- "The way a photogram is produced is best understood when you think of it as a sunburn on film. If you were to lay in the sun with a leaf on your back, at the end of the day you would have sunburn in the shape of that leaf. I essentially do the same thing using large sheets of photographic film or paper.”

 

Floris Neusüss

Floris Neususs born in Germany in 1937, along side his work as an artist he dedicated his whole career to the teaching and study of photograms.

His work is usually created in opposites such as black and white, shadow and light, movemnent and stillness, presence and absense. His images are thought to represent themes of mythology, history, nature and the subconscious.

"Neusüss's art often acknowledges that the making of each unique photogram is a kind of performance. In this installation piece, a chair stands on a sheet of photographic paper that retains the shadow of a person now absent from the seat. The playful title becomes increasingly poignant as each year passes."
-http://www.vam.ac.uk/
László moholy-nagy 

László moholy-nagy was American, born Hungary 1895-1946
László moholy-nagy created this image of his hand without a camera. He did this by placing his hand, a paintbrush and other items on a piece of photographic paper and exposing it to light.








Pinhole:

Barbara Ess
Barbara Ess is known most for her Dark ominous photography that is often made with a pinhole camera. She is a American photographer she attended the London School of Film Technique and the University of Michigan. She is widely known for her pinhole photography, her photography are usually one earthy colour. They are shown in many exhibitions across the world. Her photos are usually left unfinished and are very vague.
They show a range of emotions such as helplessness and anxiety made by a pinhole.
Ess has said, "In a way I try to photograph what can not be photographed."

Jon Grepstad
Jon Grepstad was born in Skien, Norway.
For a few years Grepstad was a high school teacher, then in 1972-73 he was a chairperson and general secretary of the Norweigen chapter chapters of War Resisters' International.
In the late 1980s Jon focused his work on photography, his main interests was pinhole photography and landscapes. He is well recognised for his online article on pinhole photography including history, images, cameras and formulas. It was first published in 1996 it has now been published into Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Polish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Grepstad

PHOTOGRAM

Materials used for photograms and analysis.

The materials I used to make my photogram was a lighter, a pen, a key ring and a key.

I first set up the enlarger by placing the negative carrier in the enlarger and equipping the lense.

I then made sure that my photographic paper was safe to get out and not be ruined by any light.

I placed my items on the paper covering parts or the photographic paper.

First I did a test strip to make sure i did not expose too much light to the paper.
I set the timer to 5 seconds at first too see if that was enough exposure. My first test strip didn't go as planned as there was not enough light. I could tell this because the photogram was too dark. So this time i set the times to 4 seconds. This time it was fine, there was just enough light and the photogram come out fine. So i did it again but this time i didn't do a test trip because i found the exposure that i needed.

Dark Room- Risk Assessment.

Dark Room- Risk Assessment.

The dark room is a great place to produce photos but first you need to know the risks that can accure.

You need to be sensible in the dark room, if you are not concentrating or looking where you're going you could really hurt your self as it is very dark and you cant see.

No bags/ coats etc.. should be brought in, this is because if they are and you want to put them down next to you someone else or even you might not see them and this can cause an accident.

No phones should be brought in to the dark room because any type of light that is brought into  the dark room can ruin the photographic paper, this may be your own or somebody else's.

No running in the dark room for obvious safety reasons.

No food or drinks in the dark room. If you drop food/ drink somebody could slip and fall.

Pinhole cameras

Using a pinhole camera you can make your own camera out of materials around the house and take black and white photos with it.

To make a pinhole camera you will have to collect a few materials first.

You will need:

·      A box/ tin

·      Photo paper

·      A can

·      Knife

·      Drill

·      Needle

·      Sand paper

·      Black insulation tape

·      Sugar paper

You will also need to have access to a dark room and a developer.

To make the pinhole camera you will need a box or tin, when I made the pinhole camera I used a tin, before you do anything you will have to drill a hole in your tin so you can make the pinhole.

After you do this you will need to cover the whole inside of the tin with black sugar paper (so no light will reflect) you will have to put the sugar paper on the inside of the tin and on the inside of the tin lid.

Then you will need to get your empty and washed out can and cut it to make a thin strip of aluminium, after you’ve done this you will need to get your needle and put a clean hole through the aluminium can strip, but don’t just push it through because if you do this the hole might have a rugged edge and it needs to be perfect, after you have made the hole you will need to hold the strip towards the light and using a magnifying glass you need to look through the pinhole to see if it has been done correctly.

The you will need to smooth the hole off with sand paper then you will need to use the black insulation tape to stick the strip of aluminium with the hole in to your tin, you need to stick the strip of metal to the outside of the tin.

 Covering the hole you made with the drill should be the small pinhole you made on the aluminium strip.

After you have followed all these steps you should have your own tin pinhole camera and you’re ready to start developing pictures.

How to use a pinhole camera.

To use the pinhole camera you first need to have a piece of photo paper do not expose the paper to light until you know it’s fully sealed in your pinhole camera. To seal the pinhole camera with the photo paper in you will need to be in a dark room, put the photo paper shiny side facing the pinhole and your photo paper must be on the opposite side facing the hole when you’ve done this use the black insulation tape to seal the lid, tape around the lid to keep any light coming through.

After you have sealed the lid on you will be able to go outside to the natural light and capture your picture.

DARKROOM

DARKROOM

Darkroom health and safety

To use the darkroom first you need to know about the health and safety regulations.

1.    No bags allowed this is because if anybody puts a bag down on the floor that is a health and safety hazard as somebody could trip and fall.

2.    The darkroom is pitch black so the photographic paper doesn’t get ruined so no phones allowed as one tiny spec of light could ruin the photographic paper.

3.    Make sure the photographic paper goes into the developer shiny side down because if not sometimes it can clog the machine.

4.    Make sure you are always focused in the darkroom because if you’re not paying attention you could trip this could be a health and safety hazard.

How to use the enlarger

To use the enlarger first you will need to put the negative carrier into the enlarger. You need to make sure that you have put the negative carrier in the enlarger before you turn the enlarger on because the negative carrier controls the amount of light that comes from the enlarger. When you have turned the enlarger on you need to change the colour dials on the front of the enlarger, these colours are magenta and yellow. Yellow needs to be at 0 and magenta at the highest that is 170. The rotary dial needs to be turned all the way to the left and then two clicks right, after this you can turn your enlarger on. Then you adjust the height of the enlarger head depending on the size of paper you are using. To set the timer up all you need to do is set the number of seconds that you want the light to be on for, you can change the number by simply clicking the up/ down button.

After following these steps your enlarger should be set up and ready to use.