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Photogram projects by Lloyd Godman - photogram artists

Related photogram techniques

Rather than simply laying objects onto a piece of light sensitive paper, there are also some other related techniques that are also called "photograms".  

Luminogram, Chemigram, Clich'e verre

 


Clich'e verre

"Clich'e verre are photographic pictures in which hand made negatives, masks etc. are copied directly onto light sensitive paper or are enlarged or duplicated. (The de'coupages of Picasso, the tissue-paper montages of the Nerlingers and the synthetic film montages of Hajek-Halke were made through this process.)" Floris Neususs

(These can be simply made by drawing on glass, or any transparent medium or sticking a cut out onto a transparent medium and laying this on the paper for the exposure.)



 
 
This Clich'e verre image was one of four created for my  Body Symbols series from 1986. Each of the four symbol represented earth, air, water, fire and was positioned in each corner of the gallery. The image was made by masking the central area off with masking tape and drawing onto glass with a Litho crayon.

Once the marks are drawn onto the glass, lying the glass onto 2 sheets of 16''x20'' paper, exposing and processing on the normal manner. Later a special corner frame was constructed to fit the work.

 
 


Move over image to view roll over image

The blocks supporting the glass with the drawing on are removed and the glass lowered  onto photographic paper for the exposure.

 


Detail of Body Symbols series Clich'e verre image, note the interesting reflection that took place from one plane of the image to the other

 

Historical methods

Literally Cliche-verre means 'glass picture'. It is also known as glass etching or haylography ( the Greek word for glass). The Barbizon painters explored the technique as a fluxus between drawing, painting and photography. It was first promoted by French painter and lithographer Constant Dutilleux, who worked with a group of friends at Arras including Adalbert Cuvelier. Corot was a friend of Dutilleux and occasionally joined the group and used the technique for about 20 years from 1853. Both Corot and Millet used the method regularly for the compelling effect it gave.

It is difficult for historians and students of old processes to categorize, but historically it was a hand drawn negative. Perhaps it illustrates the currently held view that the artist's ideas are more important than the medium through which they are expressed. The technique used by Dutilleux and his contemporaries was fairly simple: they took a piece of flat glass, smoked it over a tallow candle, and then scratched an image in the soot covered surface with a sharp pointed instrument. Predictably, this was placed onto a sheet of photosensitive paper and exposed in the light of the sun. Where light passed through the clear parts of the glass, the areas that had been scratched away, it produced a line drawing in black on a white background of the paper. Images made via the Cliche verre method could be reproduced ad infinitum without resorting to the more complicated making of an etching plate and the use of a heavy and bulky printing press, or without having to rent the services of a printing studio.

Contemporary methods

While the historical method of using a smoked or varnished glass plate can still be used today, in a contemporary context the technique has been expanded in numerous ways, allowing opportunities and variations. Perhaps the widest interpretation is any medium laid down on a transparent plate or base which cane be exposed onto photosensitive material other than an image produced by a camera, and could include the following.

 

Lith Film: This method involves using a sheet of fogged lith film as a base to scratch into.

Photocopies: A range of images produced onto transparent acetate via a photocopy machine.

Acetate: A range of materials and methods can be used to create marks on acetate. This might include pens, paint, even glue stick and dirt. ( The use of dust and dirt relates to a project I explore titled When Light Turns to Dust.

Image from When Light Turns to Dust

 

This technique is as varied as the artist who uses it. The best source of information on the technique is a comprehensive catalog, Cliche-verre: hand drawn, light-printed, a survey of the medium from 1939 to the present. It was published in an edition of 2,000 by the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1980. "The listed authors are Elizabeth Glassman and Marilyn F. Symmes. In her introduction, Ellen Sharp briefly reviews the history of the medium (literally, glass negative) which is defined as "hand drawn, light printed". Thus, a cliche verre is an image that has been applied by hand to some surface through which light can be transmitted (glass, photo film, acetate, wax paper, etc.) and then printed on some light sensitive surface. Beyond this, there can be infinite variations. Some do use paint and then draw in it making a contact print of the final plate. Others have put syrup on glass that is then held above a sensitized surface at a distance of several inches to produce a more blurred image (Henry Holmes Smith), have put smoke on glass and used this as a basis for a negative that is then placed in an enlarger and printed (Frederick Sommer). The book contains a glossary but it does not describe what is meant by an intaglio cliche-verre. It is likely a term coined by the specific artist who uses the method and could represent any number of things. For example, an image could be printed on photo paper and then, while the paper is wet, run through a press with raised elements incised in it which is then strategically placed under the print to produce an intaglio effect. While it is dated, the book does contain a large number of illustrations and has an extensive bibliography for those wishing to learn more".

Ray Starr

 

 

 

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