Emulation: Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946) was a Hungarian American photographer, designer, painter, filmmaker, sculptor, and theoretician. He was associated with the Bauhaus movement, which is named after an influential modernist art school at which Moholy-Nagy was a professor. He created theories regarding art education that centered on improving a student’s natural talent as opposed to teaching them specific, specialized skills. This contributed to his great influence on America’s post-war education.
Moholy-Nagy coined the name “photogram,” although he was not the first person to make photograms. His photograms were created directly on film.” He created “light-space modulators,” which were oil paintings on polished or transparent surfaces that used “mobile light effects (britannica.com).” Throughout all his work, Moholy-Nagy had an interest in space, time, and light. His photography focused on the more abstract aspects of reality such as light and shadow, shape, space, and line. His paintings were of non-objective depictions of circles, lines, and rectangles. He created collages called photomontages that arranged cut out people and shapes on a white background. He also did typography for books and posters.
I knew I wanted to use his photograms as inspiration for a photo essay as soon as I saw them. I was drawn to his use of value and the interesting lines and shapes. What I most liked was his incorporation of people’s faces and hands in the photograms because I’d never seen that done before in a photogram. With my photo essay, I want to use interesting objects, magazine cutouts, and my hands and face in Moholy-Nagy inspired photograms. I will overlay objects and play with light and space just as he did.
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