Rayograms

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Images produced by placing objects directly onto light-sensitive paper and exposing them, leaving pale silhouettes where the items blocked the light
2. Photographic prints made without a camera, created by laying things on sensitized paper so that light outlines their shapes
3. Camera-less pictures formed when objects rest on photosensitive material during exposure, recording their shadows as lighter or darker marks

Etymology: "Rayograms" is the plural of "rayogram," a photograph made without a camera by placing objects directly on light-sensitive paper and exposing it to light. The American photographer Man Ray, born Emmanuel Radnitzky, developed the technique around 1921 and named the results after himself, calling them "rayographs." "Rayogram" is a variant of that name, and the "-gram" ending comes from the Greek "gramma," meaning something drawn or written. Christian Schad had produced similar images in 1918 under the name "schadographs," so Man Ray was not the first to make them.