The simple answer is a photographic process that captures the shadow of an object. Because photo paper is light sensitive, the parts of the paper that get lots of light turn dark and the parts that didn't get light stay white. The resulting image is a negative silhouette. For example, if you put an object like a metal camel key chain on the paper and shine a light on it, you get a simple silhouette of the camel key chain. When the object is see-through, like a glass hummingbird, then the light shines through the object and creates an x-ray like effect, showing the outline of the humming bird but also some of the details inside. Usually the more interesting images are made using more transparent objects so you can see the texture inside. Photograms are made one at a time by placing objects on paper and exposing them to light. Every time you put the objects back in place you get little changes so every photogram is an original piece of work. In color photograms the color of the light and the color of the object combine to create bold and beautiful images.

Literally since the beginning of photography. The very first images caught on paper where in 1800 when Thomas Wedgwood coated leather in silver nitrate, put objects on it and laid it out in the sun. Unfortunately they had not developed a way to fix the image in place yet so the images faded if they were shown in anything stronger than candle light. Never-the-less this was the beginning. A few years later Henry Fox Talbot got it figured out and in 1834 he soaked a piece of paper silver chloride, exposed it (with objects on it) to the sun and then fixed it with a salt solution. He had just created the first permanent photographic image and negative, which began the evolution of photography. But it wasn't until Man Ray started using this original principle in the 1920s that it resurfaced as a way of making artistic images. Since then lots of artists and photographers have experimented with the technique although only a small percentage of them have made photograms their focus. Since the digital age has dawned, photograms are becoming more unusual in the art world. Negative film and darkrooms are no longer required to be a photographer or to process images and so darkrooms and the chemicals required are becoming more expensive and harder to find.

Man Ray was an American photographer and artist in the Surrealist movement of the 1920s. His career was based in Paris and he became known for his avant-garde fashion photography and photograms (which he called rayograms). He is among the most influential artists of the 20th century.

Today you can follow in the footsteps of photo's founding fathers and make your own sun prints using a Sunprint Kit. They cost ~$15 and can be found on amazon, at sunprints.org or in most science stores and science museum gift shops. These kits are tons of fun and very kid safe since they only use a sunny day and water to reveal the image.

They follow the same principles and steps in the process. But color photograms are harder to create for two reasons: 1 color darkrooms are rare in this digital age, 2. you can't see what you are doing. We've all seen a movie or TV show scene in a darkroom and there is a red light on. It's not just so we can see the actors, it is called a safe light and B&W photo paper is not sensitive to that color if it is dim. So that means you can see when you are placing objects on the paper and you can get pretty close to the same composition if you really try. But color paper is sensitive to all colors of light which means you have to place the objects on the paper by feel. You literally can't see the hand in front of your face. This causes object placement to vary widely and adds to the originality of each piece.

My abstract paintings are pieces of larger compositions. I generally begin by laying out a piece of watercolor paper and wetting it down. Using a brush, I paint on a wash of watercolor. I then drip or squirt ink onto the paper and draw with chalk pastel as the surface dries. Depending on the order and how wet the surface is, the texture of the drops and brush strokes change. Once the paper has dried I sometimes add another layer to help create the feeling of depth and space. Then I tear the piece up into smaller compositions. Occasionally I like a big piece just the way I made it, other times the edges don't feel finished to they get removed, and sometimes there is a particular spot that really works and so I break it away from the rest so everyone else can see it on its own. The parts I remove are turned into business cards and bookmarks.