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

Example Sentences

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

As cyanotypes are not made from a negative, each Atkins photogram was one-of-a-kind — making “British Algae” an arduous enterprise that took a decade of labor.

From New York Times • Nov. 15, 2018

A negative can then be placed atop the dried paper and exposed to sunlight to create a print, or an object can be arranged on it to produce a photogram.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2018

For one photogram, he made a digital tea-strainer.

From Economist • Sep. 27, 2017

“That photogram was taken with a standard silver nitrate emulsion,” Lord Asriel said.

From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman