Chemogram

A chemogram (from "chemistry", "optic" and gramma, Greek for "things written") is an experimental art where a photographic image is partly or fully enlarged and processed onto photographic paper in the darkroom and afterwards selectively painted over in full light with chemicals used in photographic processing. Due to the production process chemograms can be considered works of abstract photography.

Chemograms were invented in 1974 by the German photo artist Josef H. Neumann.

Chemograms are advancements of chemigrams, which were originally invented by the Belgian artist Pierre Cordier in 1956. Although Johann Schulze, Hippolyte Bayard, Maurice Tabard and Edmund Kesting had experimented in obtaining chemigram-like images before, Pierre Cordier is considered the pioneer of the chemigram and of its development as a means of artistic expression.

The term "chemogram" (German: "Chemogramm") was coined in 1976 by the photo designer Josef H. Neumann from Dortmund. He had learned the technique of creating chemigrams from his Professor Pan Walther, who had adopted it from Edmund Kesting – both coming from Dresden.

In the production process Neumann did not only use brush or wad of cotton wool but he also processed photos onto the photographic paper before that. As the optic during the production process played a decisive role for him, he changed the term "chemigram" by replacing the letter „i“ with „o“. This way the first pieces of this technique were created at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts from 1974 to 1976. The first chemograms were exhibited in 1976 at the "Fotografik Studio Gallerie Prof. Pan Walther" in Münster.

...
Wikipedia