Photogram

After studying law in Budapest, Moholy-Nagy decided to become an artist. He was active in wide-ranging fields such as painting, photography, film, design, and architecture. In 1923, he became a professor at the Bauhaus, a school of art and design in Germany. In 1937, he emigrated to the United States and continued to devote his energies into education too by serving as the headmaster of the New Bauhaus in Chicago. He had a notable influence on the following generations.

There are two lines crossing the image from upper left to lower right. A coiled form is attached to each line. The line on the left intersects the other line below the image. There are not so many elements constructing the image so that by focusing on the simple composition, we get a clear and stable impression. However, the lines and coils vary in thickness or darkness of color in certain parts and that subtle nuance makes us feel that the steady-looking composition is actually realized narrowly on a delicate balance. Such an effect is brought about by means of the method of placing something on top of a piece of photographic paper and shining light on it to reproduce its shadow. Such photography without using a camera is nowadays referred to as “photogram,” a name given by Moholy-Nagy.