Photograms Introduction
Photograms
are a different way of using photographic paper, a way of creating white
silhouettes on a black background you can have coloured photographic paper but
in this introduction its about negative paper.
Equipment
-You
will need access to a functioning darkroom
-
You will need photographic paper
-
You will need developer, stop bath and fix chemicals
-
You will need a photographic enlarger
- An
assortment of items to place on your paper
Test
Strip
Before
taking your photogram you need to test the exposure of your paper you need to
take a strip of the photographic paper and place it under your enlarger and
place items on it covering its length but not all of the paper like a pencil
from one end to the other.
Then
get a piece of card and set the enlarger light timer to 3 seconds, then set of
the timer and wait until it turns off
Then
find the first part of the test strip that has pure black and that should be
the correct exposure time and set your light timer accordingly.
Photogram
After
you have set your exposure time place your items on your photographic paper,
the paper must be shiny side up with the objects composed in your way and then
put it underneath the enlarger with the light off! Then set of the timer
covering the paper and objects in light for the correct amount of time and wait
for the light to go out.
Developing
Take
the paper off of the enlarger and put it in the developer for minuets agitating the tray the whole time its
in there (moving the tray) then put it in the stop bath for 30 seconds then
move it on to the fix for a further 5 minuets and then into the wash for about
10 minuets and after that into a dryer.
Health
and Safety
To stay
safe in the dark room don’t run around for obvious reasons (its dark) and do
not consume the chemicals because that will cause serious illness if ingested
so wash your hands after using the chemicals also avoid splashing the chemicals
out of there trays. Don’t look directly at the light in the enlarger because it
will damage your eyes.
