Abstraction (n) Disassociated from any specific instance; having only intrinsic form with little or no attempt at pictorial representation or narrative content.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, was one of the most inventive artists of post-WWI Europe. He was a painter, designer, photographer and educational philosopher whose ideas formed much of the Bauhaus – a highly influential design school that existed in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Bauhaus ideas influenced art and design for the next half-century. His photo work was often unmanipulated prints of straight camera images but they were often very ambiguous and graphically striking.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Ascona, 14 x 10, 1926.

Laszo Moholy-Nagy, Dufay Color Photograph (Light Filters), dimensions unknown, 1935.

Imogen Cunningham. In some sense, the next image is a straight photograph -- a fairly accurate rendition of what the camera “saw.” But it’s clear that Cunningham was more interested in what the “image” would become than what she was actually seeing. She altered the familiar by using close-up and her ability to recognize the inherent pattern of her subject (especially as it was enhanced by the dramatic lighting of the situation).

Imogen Cunningham, Leaf Pattern, 9 x 7 inches, 1929.

Man Ray often made photographic images without camera or lens Man Ray often made photographic images without camera or lens. Not technically even a print since it is a direct image (not a transferred). In this example, dark areas are the most exposed / white not exposed at all. This image had at least three exposures. one for the heads, one for the hands, one for the vase like shapes.

Man Ray, Rayograph, 9 x 11 inches, 1922.

Arron Siskind made early images of architecture but he found that too invested with predetermined meaning. He turned to the details of urban walls – a detail so small that it was usually unnoticed by people on the street. Many of his images are completely free of external references but quite a few still contain letter or number fragments.

Aaron Siskind, Gloucester 16A, 1944, Gelatin-silver print, 13 x 19 ½ inches.

Arron Siskind, Kentucky, 13 x16, gelatin silver print, 1951.

Aaron Siskind, Vermont 88, 1987, Gelatin-silver print, 9 ½ x 9 ½ inches.

Minor White was known as a master photographer and printer – developed the Zone System of exposure. But here he uses his considerable technical abilities to render this faithful b/w of things we can’t identify. Is it ice, stone, bones, dried leaves, fossilized wood? Is this at our feet or on a wall?

Minor White, Capitol Reef, Utah, 12 x 9, 1962.

Clarence John Laughlin made this study of that space between the window and the shade – many creative kids become fascinated with these tiny spaces where light continually transforms reality. While completely obvious to kids– adults learn how “not to see” these “distracting” elements of everyday life. It is said that artists, more than most adults, hold on to some of this ability.

Clarence John Laughlin, The Language of Light, 10 x 13 inches, 1952.

Brett Weston is the son of Edward Weston Brett Weston is the son of Edward Weston. Brett is believed to be the first photographer to make a serious study of a broken window. This exercise required that he see nothing as “something.” Instead of seeing a void -- the broken window – he saw the missing part as a very active presence. The edges – the actual physical presence in the image, seems incidental to the missing portion of glass.

Brett Weston, Broken Window, San Francisco, 7 x 9 inches, 1937.

James Welling, Ravenstein 4A, Iris print, 61 x 38 inches, 1998 (An Iris Print is made on an Iris Digital printer. It is part of a broader category of prints called giclee. Giclee is taken from the French word meaning “to spray,

Roland Fischer, Black Forest, 2007, Chromogenic print face-mounted to Plexiglas, 71 x 49 inches.

Roland Fischer, Birmingham (Day)l, 2007, Chromogenic print face-mounted to Plexiglas, 71 x 49 inches.

Barbara Kasten, Construct PC/4B, 1981, Polaroid, 24 x 20 inches.

Nicki Stager, East, 2002, chromogenic photogram, 3” x 3”

Dan R Talley, Fire in Fallujah, 2003, Ink Jet, 30” x 40”

Dan R Talley, Fire in Fallujah (detail), 2003, Ink Jet, 30” x 40”

Dan R Talley, source image for Fire in Fallujah, New York Times, 2003.

Student Work, In-camera abstraction assignment.

Student Work, In-camera abstraction assignment.

Student Work, In-camera abstraction assignment.

Student Work, In-camera abstraction assignment.

Student Work, Photoshop abstraction assignment.

Student Work, Photoshop abstraction assignment.

Student Work, Photoshop abstraction assignment.