Photograms by Mark Arbeit

I mention to a photographer friend, Just Loomis, the next personal project I wanted to work on was making Ray-O-Graphs or Photograms. Placing objects on photographic paper in a darkroom, then processing the light sensitive paper.

When I told Just this, it reminded him of something Helmut had mention to him to tell me. Helmut told Just he had seen a photogram, where someone had laid a person down on photographic paper. Helmut said it reminded him of my out-of-focus pictures ( Pensée & Wishbone) and thought it could be an interesting direction for me to go in.

As Just was speaking these words driving down the Ventura freeway, I started getting goose bumps! Just was delivering a message from Helmut Newton, eight years after his death.

All of a sudden everything fell into place of what I wanted to do. Helmut had put the idea in my head about placing a nude onto the photo paper. It did in fact look exactly like my out-of-focus pictures, except there would be no grain for the eye to focus on. My idea was to create grain by placing objects directly onto the photo paper; nails, marbles, Cheerios, plastic, nuts & bolts, cellophane, rope & pasta.

When Just Loomis, George Holz and I were given the opportunity of an artist in residence in Belgium, this is the project I decided to do. I worked for 4 days in a darkroom and made 12 large photograms 4 feet x 8 feet.