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Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy born in 1895 was a Hungarian constructivist who worked as a graphic designer, photographer, and typographer. Being highly influenced by constructivism and integration of technology into arts. His main profession is in the fields of photorpahy and typography. His interest in photography and typography led him to develop a new visual technique, “typophoto.” and "photogram" which will be discussed in the next section: artworks. The explosive development of photography as a medium of untold expressive power and as a primary vehicle of modern consciousness occurred in 1920s and 1930s. Abstract photograms, photomontages composed of fragmented images, the combination of photographs with modern typography were main characteristics what Moholy-Nagy described as a “new vision” rooted in the technological culture of the 20th century.

 

 

 

He developed a new visual technique called typophoto (Figure 1) and his discussion of typophoto was that "Moholy-Nagy’s discussion of typophoto: “What is typophoto? Typography is communication composed of type. Photography is the visual representation of what can be optically apprehended. Typophoto is the visually most exact rendering of communication.” Moholy-Nagy’s enthusiasm for photography led him to start experimenting with photograms in 1922. In the following year, he began to make photomontages, which he called photo plastics (Figure 2). A “photogram” is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a light-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. He saw his photograms and photo plastics as a manifestation of a process of arriving at a new expression that could become both more creative and more functional than painting or straightforward imitative photography. His great interests towards photography enabled him to experiment new ways of photographic worksBy using great tools of technology tools, he created a new way of expressing photographs that became more influential and distinctive from others. 

Artwork 

Figure 2

Lsazlo Moholy-Nagy, photogram 1926

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1987.1100.158 

(accessed October 01, 2014)

Figure 1

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, typophoto 1923

http://havingalookathistoryofgraphicdesign.blogspot.fi/2012/11/the-impact-of-laszlo-moholy-na.html

(accessed October 01, 2014)

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