Contemporary art
Investigating the resurgence of photogram techniques in contemporary artists' exploration of direct image-making and abstraction.
Photogram techniques have reemerged in contemporary practice, inviting artists to craft images by directly interpreting light, objects, and chemistry. This essay traces methods, meanings, and market reception across studios and galleries worldwide.
Published by
Scott Morgan
July 26, 2025 - 3 min Read
Across a spectrum of contemporary studios, artists are revisiting photograms as a tactile counterpoint to digital imaging. By layering light-sensitive materials with found objects, performers of light can reveal textures, silhouettes, and latent forms that resist typical camera-driven capture. This return is not nostalgia so much as a critical refusal of overreliance on algorithmic rendering. Practitioners experiment with varying emulsions, developers, and exposure strategies to coax unexpected tonal ranges and subtle corporeal traces into a single, unrepeatable image. The process invites patient improvisation, yet it also requires rigorous documentation to support interpretation. In galleries and residencies, these experiments spark conversations about authorship, time, and the materiality of vision.
The core appeal lies in how photograms democratize image-making while preserving a sense of mystery. No lens dictates the composition; rather, the photographer manipulates proximity, density, and angle to sculpt a scene from light itself. Objects—whether botanical specimens, metal fragments, or household ephemera—become agents that alter chemical reactions and ultimately imprint a “memory” onto paper or plastic. Artists describe a dialog with the material, listening for shifts in grain, edge, and glow as if the image were being drawn from a living archive. Collaborative studios maximize this dialogue, with assistants contributing variable light conditions and chemical environments that broaden the lexicon of possible outcomes.
Technique meets theory as material processes reframe contemporary abstraction.
In late modern and contemporary contexts, photograms have moved beyond the darkroom into hybrid practices. Artists blend traditional photogram workflows with digital mapping, projection, and sculpture, creating installations where light, time, and surface interact. This hybridity lets viewers step inside procedural narratives, watching how a single exposure can fragment into multiple readings under changing illumination. Some practitioners incorporate lenticular or textured substrates to intensify tactile perception, while others fuse photogram prints with sculptural elements that invite hands-on engagement. The result is an expanded field of visual inquiry, where abstraction arises from the intimate coordination between material constraints and conceptual intent, rather than from a single preconception of form.
The discourse around this resurgence often critiques photographic authority and authorship. By foregrounding chance and material behavior, artists challenge the primacy of the camera as sole image-maker. They emphasize process as knowledge, with each layer—solvent, negative, and timing—bearing influence on the final appearance. Exhibitions frequently present stepwise installations that trace the sequence of experiments, turning the gallery into a laboratory of perception. Critics highlight the performative dimension: the moment of exposure, the whisper of a developer, the pause before drying—the choreography that makes each work feel like a diary entry rather than a finished object. Such presentations invite viewers to become participants in form-making.
The resurgence foregrounds craft, ecology, and collaborative inquiry.
A growing segment of practitioners treats photograms as environmental inquiry. By using biodegradable emulsions, recycled substrates, and low-waste development rituals, artists align with sustainability concerns while preserving experimental integrity. The resulting works often pair with textual statements or programmatic actions that reveal ecological stakes embedded in the making. Viewers encounter images that carry pigment histories, chemical footprints, and the residue of previous experiments, prompting reflections on entropy, conservation, and change over time. In this context, photograms function not just as aesthetic objects but as records of material behavior under human influence, inviting broader conversations about responsibility and imagination in visual culture.
The market for photogram-based work has shifted with a renewed interest in craft-centric practice. Curators look for works that demonstrate a clear and legible relationship between process and outcome, yet retain a sense of ambiguity that invites multiple readings. Editioning strategies adapt to the delicate, sometimes fragile nature of photograms, with careful archival framing and climate-aware storage becoming standard. Collectors increasingly value the narrative embedded in the making—how an image traveled from light to print, and how contingencies shaped its final form. This attention to process often translates into longer-term research collaborations between artists, scientists, and conservators.
Community, collaboration, and transmission drive ongoing innovation.
Education and publication have risen alongside studio practice, helping to formalize photograms as a legitimate contemporary method. Workshops teach novices how to layer materials, calibrate exposures, and interpret outcomes without overfitting to a single aesthetic. Scholarly essays explore historical precedents—from early modern photograms to mid-century experimental photography—while contemporaries push the boundaries by integrating moving images or interactive surfaces. Critics and historians emphasize lineage and divergence, mapping how current experiments relate to and depart from earlier photogram traditions. As pedagogy widens, a diverse generation of makers gains access to these techniques, broadening the field’s intellectual and cultural resonance.
Community studios and artist-run centers play a pivotal role in sustaining this revival. Shared facilities lower barriers to experimenting with light-sensitive media and provide critical peer feedback. Mentorship networks connect emerging artists with veterans who can interpret failures as essential data rather than setbacks. Public demonstrations, artist talks, and open studios demystify the process for audiences, inviting them to observe the operations behind a final image. The social dimension of photogram practice—collective accident, shared discovery, and communal archives—adds resonance to the work. In this ecosystem, the act of making becomes both a dialogue and a contribution to a living tradition.
Direct image-making extends into installation and immersive environments.
Some contemporary practitioners push toward direct image-making as an act of resistance to mediated culture. By avoiding traditional photography protocols, they claim autonomy over what is seen and how it is interpreted. This stance resists the velocity of online imaging, favoring a slower, more contemplative rhythm. The resulting works often emphasize material presence—the grain, the edge, the glow—over polished polish. Viewers are encouraged to study the surface closely, to discern how fragile emulsions respond to light and how serendipitous accidents become meaningful turns in a narrative. The conversations surrounding these pieces frequently address ethics, authorship, and the politics of visible memory.
At the same time, photograms are increasingly deployed in contemporary installation contexts. Large-scale pieces interact with architectural space, inviting spectators to experience the interplay between light, shadow, and surface from multiple angles. Some installations harness interactive sensors that adjust exposure in response to viewer presence, creating dynamic relationships between observer and artwork. Others integrate sound or mist to suggest atmosphere and time. These expanses of light translate studio experiments into immersive environments, reinforcing the idea that direct image-making can inhabit the threshold between abstraction and representation.
Artists are also exploring historical dialogue with science and exploration, weaving photograms into broader investigative programs. Specimens, natural history motifs, and laboratory paraphernalia appear alongside purely abstract forms, signaling a continuum between empirical inquiry and poetic vision. Such works often carry explicit references to botany, geology, or mineralogy, inviting viewers to read as if through a catalog while feeling the immediacy of a tactile encounter. The cross-pollination with other disciplines nurtures a robust vocabulary for abstraction—one where memory, process, and material constraints generate new symbolic meanings that resist simplistic interpretation.
Ultimately, the resurgence of photogram techniques reflects a persistent appetite for hands-on image-making that can still speak with contemporary urgency. Artists cultivate a practice rooted in patience, precision, and curiosity, treating each exposure as a chance to discover something essential about light’s behavior and its capacity to reveal truth through imperfection. The conversation extends beyond the studio to curatorial choices, educational programs, and collector interest, all of which contribute to a more nuanced public understanding of how photographs become artifacts of inquiry. In this ongoing dialogue, direct image-making remains a fertile terrain where abstraction and tactility converge, inviting continued experimentation and conversation for years to come.
