Talk:Christian Schad

Schadographs

Is there any evidence that Many Ray and László Moholy-Nagy actually based their experiments on Schad's work or were they independent? The way the article reads, Schad invented this technique and Ray and Moholy-Nagy saw his work and did their own experiments. I'm all for giving credit where it's due but if he truly did invent the technique, this would need a source and a bit of expanding. freshacconci talktalk 13:07, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Photographic plates or paper? Comment

The MoMA entry (https://www.moma.org/collection/works/50006?locale=en) states that "Schad covered the surfaces of light-sensitive paper with various objects and then left them to develop by his windowsill," which infers that he used printing-out paper. The entry now reads 'photographic plates'. I cannot find any reference that would verify that. Accordingly I will change the detail to 'printing out paper' in accord with ref Umland, A., & Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.). (2008). Dada in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. New York: Museum of Modern Art. Jamesmcardle^(talk) 01:18, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for looking into this! I just checked a couple of sources. Günter A. Richter in his monograph "Christian Schad" (2002) has the following: "Mitte Juli 1919 (...) Beim Hantieren mit sogenanntem Tageslichtpapier macht er eine Erfindung. (...) Gegenstände oder Materialien, die er auflegt, bilden sich durch natürliche Lichteinwirkung auf dem Papier ab." (p.68 - 'Middle of July 1919 (...) While handling so-called daylight paper he [Schad] makes a discovery. (...) Objects or materials he places upon this paper will show up through the natural effects of light.') - I am not familiar with the term "Tageslichtpapier" (daylight paper) and don't know in what ways this may have differed from normal photo paper. Richter goes on to describe Schad's method as follows: "Ein alter Kopierrahmen genügt für das Experiment. Das Tageslichtpapier wird unter den Rahmen gespannt, eine Glasplatte aufgelegt, auf der dann die Komposition erfolgt." (p.70 - 'For the experiment an old copying frame is sufficent. With the help of the frame, the daylight paper is fixed into place, and a glass plate is put on top of it - which is where the actual composition happens.') - Therefore, a plate is involved - however it is not a photographic plate but a glass plate. Albrecht Conz (talk) 02:23, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Hi Albrecht Conz, thank you for your input and your editing. Yes Tageslichtpapier is 'printing-out paper' a slow emulsion chloride paper which may be exposed in daylight, usually in a printing frame to firmly press the negative against the sensitive surface. However it is apparent from the out of focus areas in Schad's photograms that he dispensed with a printing frame, or he placed the paper in the frame under the glass and objects on top of the glass; the torn papers used were lightly in contact with the paper and are only sharp where text touched the surface. Having a layer of glass in between would not render the text on the torn paper as clearly focussed as it appears in his photograms. The Printing-out paper (now very hard to obtain) slowly darkens in the areas exposed to light and the development can be arrested at any point by immersion in fixer (Sodium thiosulfate), preserving the image as it was. It has a lovely brownish warm tone. Ordinary bromide paper also darkens in daylight, but too rapidly to be useful for "Schadowgrams" and when fixed, the image fades considerably and does not give the solid blacks that Schad obtained. Jamesmcardle^(talk) 03:33, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion:

• Christian Schad self-portrait 1927.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 01:01, 26 December 2018 (UTC)