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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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 |