A photomontage is an image that has been assembled from different photographs


Definition

A photomontage is an image that has been assembled from different photographs. By adding or removing information in the form of words or images the final meaning is altered. The resulting photomontage may be artistic, commercial, religious or political.

History

Photomontage is almost as old as photography itself. During the 1850s, several photographers and artists attempted to use photography to emulate the idealized scenes and classical composition that was popular in the Pre-Raphaelite painting of the period. Photographs during this time were restricted by the size of the glass plate used as the negative in the camera. Photographic enlargers were not common, so the images had to be contact printed onto the photographic paper.

By using many negatives to create a picture the photographer could increase the size of the final image. This also released the photographer from the need to photograph complex sets using many models. The technique of ‘combination printing’ allowed the photographer to photograph each model individually and then print them on a single piece of paper, masking all the areas of the negative that were not needed.

Historical examples

A famous combination print of the Victorian era is called ‘Two Ways of Life’ by Oscar Gustave Rejlander, produced in 1857. As many as 30 negatives were used to construct this image. The picture shows the moral choice between good and evil, honest work and sin. Another photographer who worked with this technique was the artist Henry Peach-Robinson. Robinson first sketched his ideas for the final composition on a piece of paper and then fitted in pieces of the photographic puzzle using different negatives. One of his most famous images is the piece titled ‘Fading Away’ which was constructed in 1859 from five negatives. The image depicts a young woman dying whilst surrounded by her family.

Historical developments

Both Peach-Robinson and Rejlander were heavily criticized by the fine art world for their work in this field but the technique was popular with the public and did survive. Commercial photographic studios in the 1860s started making their own composite photographs. They were made by cutting up many photographs, usually portraits of the famous or of beautiful women, and gluing them onto a board. This was then re-photographed and the resulting prints sold as souvenirs or given away as promotional material.

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This article was sent to us by: Gilbert Duvon at 06022010

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