photogram

American  

[foh-tuh-gram] / ˈfoʊ təˌgræm /

noun

1. a silhouette photograph made by placing an object directly on sensitized paper and exposing it to light.

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photogram British  

/ ˈfəʊtəˌɡræm /

noun

1. a picture, usually abstract, produced on a photographic material without the use of a camera, as by placing an object on the material and exposing to light

2. obsolete a photograph, often of the more artistic kind rather than a mechanical record

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Etymology

Origin of photogram

First recorded in 1855–60; photo- + -gram ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

photogram

She also collected dust and dirt swept up while at home for almost three months under covid restrictions, printing one pile of debris each day as a near-abstract photogram.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 30, 2021

She was old and infirm and had retired to a house in Provence by the time she went back to photography, adding floral photogram borders to her early portraits of Surrealist friends and peers.

From The New Yorker ● May 21, 2019

The photogram was a technique favoured by surrealists like Man Ray, who made abstract compositions by simply placing objects on light-sensitive paper.

From Economist ● Sep. 27, 2017

And, of course, there's resonance with the history of the photogram itself, especially its efflorescence among early modernists.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2017

He meant the big photogram of the tropical beach.

From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman

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