Untitled Document

Photo Chemograms

Norman Sarachek

For many years my photography involved social documentation. About six years ago I began to search for a more personal way to use the materials of photography. I sought to create a body of work which would be unique, and which would reflect my personal artistic sensibilities.
I found this in the freedom to create images without a camera. My first cameraless photographs involved the use of inks, brushes, parts of old photographic images and other materials to make masks on sheets of clear acetate or thin paper. I then made photograms of these created images.
In my most recent cameraless work, I have minimized the materials, using black and white photographic paper, light, and chemicals. By controlling the type and manner of application of chemicals to the paper, I control oxidation of the silver. Each image reflects the use of the process of photography to make abstract images. Each piece is unique.
I think of this work as bridging the aesthetic of abstract painting and print making with the materials of photography. However, the unique action of light on silver gelatin photographic paper allows me to achieve results quite different from those obtainable with other media.
Inherent in this work is risk taking, balancing control and chance in the same way an abstract painter does when making a brush stroke. It is my intention to inform and energize the final images with this risk taking, along with evidence of process and strength of gesture.