Stikkord
Abstract forms, Alexander Rodenchenko, Constructivism, El Lissitzky, Photography, Photomontage
The experimentation of merging and/or combining layers of photo and abstract art was in fact something that many designers and artists tried out long time before any advanced computer technology existed. In the early 1920’s, when the field of photography had been enough established, one could see the first outcomes of advertising combining photo with abstract forms and shapes. One of the main contributors was Alexander Rodenchenko, a constructivst, who made promotions for the new Soviet society. The advert below (created by Rodenchenko) is created by a combination of geometrical shapes filled with flat colours, where the asymmetric balance formed by the different shapes brilliantly expands the photo’s message (Armstrong, 2009) (see Fig 1).
Fig. 1 Advert for the Leningrad section of the state publishing house (1924) by Rodenchenko
Other graphic designers, such as Russian born constructivist El Lissitzky and the Hungarian born Làszlo Moholy-Nagy, did also create art work which merged photos with elements of abstract geometric shapes. Below is an examples of a self-portrait made by Lissitzky in 1920 (see fig 2) and a photomontage called «The Law of Series» by Làszlo Moholy-Nagy in 1925 (see fig 3) (www.moma.org, 2014).
Fig. 2 Self portrait (1920) by El Lissitzky
Fig. 3 Photomontage in combination with geometric shapes and abstract forms (1925) by László Moholy-Nagy
References:
Armstrong, H. (2009). Graphic design theory. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Internet sources:
Museum of Modern Art (2014) [Museum website] At: http://www.moma.org/collection/theme.php?theme_id=10158 (Accessed on 19.12.2014).
Image sources:
Figure 1: Rodenchenko, A (1924) [Advert] Armstrong, H. (2009) Graphic design theory. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. (p. 52).
Figure 2: Lissitzky, E. Self-portrait (1920) [Photomontage] At: http://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/0/0f/The_Constructor_self_portrait_by_El_Lissitzky_1925.jpg (Accessed on 19.12.2014).
Figure 3: Moholy-Nagy, L. The Law of Series (1925) [Photomontage] At: http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=54364
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