While discovering the magic of the Photogram technique, I decided to create a series about the 4 elements as Homage to Thomas Wedgwood who created the first Photogram (and photo images in general) in 1802.
For the "Water element" I used a huge piece of ice which I picked up in the mountains during the winter. I laid the ice over the photo paper in the darkroom for approximately one hour and later I just gave it a half second light exposure.
For the "Air element" I use approximately 200 balloons in different colours which were inside a construction wrapped with transparent plastic. On the floor, under the balloon, I put a piece of photo paper, then I exposed it to light for approximately 10-15 seconds.
For the "Fire element" I used heat as an energy to create my images. By putting metal pieces inside the fire, then in the darkroom over photo paper, I gently touched the photo paper with the hot metal pieces. Using heat and not light as energy makes a chemical reaction on the photo paper and while developing it, a new scale of colours appears even if it's black & white paper.
Also for the "Earth element" I used heat as energy. So first I "cooked" stones (marble, granite etc.) in boiling water for a while , then passed the stones in a warm developer and lay the stones over photo paper for approximately one hour. The wet and warm stones created a new structure of colours and texture which do not really exist on the stone. I call that way of creating images using heat - "Calorigram" technique.
