V&A SHADOW CATCHERS CAMERALESS PHOTOGPRAHY

SHADOW CATCHERS

 

Invocation by Adam Fuss

Adam Fuss was born in London and now lives and works in New York. He was first drawn to photography at school in England, sensing that it might satisfy his passion for science and his growing interest in art. Most of his images, including Invocation, result from experimentation with some of the earliest of all photographic techniques, such as the photogram.

A photogram is a photograph made without a camera by placing objects in direct contact with light-sensitive paper. Upon exposure to light, the paper records the contours of the objects and their textures. Victorian photographers such as W. H. Fox Talbot used this technique to produce delicate impressions of leaves, lace and flowers. These were admired for their detail and clarity.

This image is a photogram of a baby resting in a shallow tray of water. In the split second that the flash was fired, it exposed the photographic paper in the bottom of the tray. This captured the outline of the baby's body and its movements, which are seen as a halo of ripples in the water. The resulting image has a sculptural quality, for it is darkest where the baby was actually touching the paper, allowing very little or no light to reach the paper. For Fuss, light acts as an important metaphor for spiritual growth and understanding. It is something he regards as 'endless, huge and unspecific'.

The dye destruction print, also known as Cibachrome or llfochrome, comprises three layers of emulsion; each sensitised to one of the three primary colours. The technique produces a high gloss surface and a vibrant range of colours which are resistant to fading. Through his use of modern photographic papers and 'live' objects, Fuss has re modelled one of the oldest and simplest photographic techniques to create arresting images which are at once abstract and familiar.

 In Fuss's photograph, the baby appears suspended in the centre of a yellow ground. Its head tilts up and its arms are held out, each in a 'V' shape, balancing its body. It is resting with its legs apart and bent at the knee. The baby's reflection in the water creates four broken rings behind and below its right leg, and six broken rings below its right elbow.

'The photograph was described to me very vividly and I could imagine the baby. I looked at a tactile drawing and the baby was in something like a cup. It was explained to me that this was like a baby in the womb and the whole thing came alive to me. It would be impossible for me to access this photograph through touch. If you were to touch a baby in water it would curl up or splash out and change shape completely.'

 http://www.vam.ac.uk/channel/people/photography/shadow_catchers_camera-less_photography_adam_fuss/


Another great artist that was featured was Floris Neususs.

Untitled (1962) by Floris Neusüss

Floris Neusüss's use of nude models, for his full-length female portraits makes for some rather intimate viewing, for example. Seemingly caught in mid-air or coiled against the surface of his canvas, the images produce more than just the conventional silhouette, catching each contour and minute hair of his subjects. The effect is oddly voyeuristic and unsettling.