Curator

  • Art Institute Chicago
  • Harvard art museum
  • My Exhibition
A work made of collodion silver chloride photogram.

Untitled

1922

László Moholy-Nagy American, born Hungary, 1895–1946

United States

László Moholy-Nagy was one of the foremost proponents of the photogram in the modern era. He made his very first photograms, including this one, on postcard stock. The green and pink iridescent sheen of the glossy surface and the warm image tone are characteristic of collodion printing-out paper. Printing-out paper darkens when exposed to light and does so relatively slowly, unlike developing-out paper, which yields a visible image immediately when immersed in developer. Thus Moholy-Nagy was able to check on his elaborate composition as he was creating it.

Collodion silver chloride photogram

Photography and Media