Here are three ways to make an abstract photograph, courtesy of the enormous Shape of Light show at Tate Modern. Thus what seems to be a gleaming abstract sculpture is, in fact, a bare thigh shot by Bill Brandt from below. They all put light, form and composition first, but so does many a pictorial photograph from almost a century ago. Shape of Light takes an ardent interest in method; the chemigram, for instance, made without a camera, in full light, by manipulating chemicals on photographic paper. The ideal artist to represent the chemigram would surely have been August Strindberg, writer-painter-photographer, whose attempts to capture the night sky are among the most beautiful abstract images ever made.

Source: The Guardian May 06, 2018 06:56 UTC