Outside the Box: Cameraless Photography

Photographs are typically made with a camera, but that isn’t a requirement. The word “photograph” is derived from Greek words meaning “light drawing.” So a photograph is any means of using light to record an image onto a photosensitive surface. Anna Atkins, William Henry Fox Talbot, and Man Ray were all practitioners of cameraless photography. One method of making cameraless images is the photogram, where objects are placed onto a light-sensitive surface, exposed to light, and processed accordingly. Cameraless images don’t necessarily require objects, though, and can be made through the actions of light and chemistry alone. Common mediums for this process are lumen prints, chlorophyll prints, phytograms, anthotypes, cyanotypes, and silver gelatin photograms. This is a juried exhibition of images that invites the creators and the viewers to think outside the box.