Distortion and Movement

Scanography, or scanner photography, is the process of using of a flatbed scanner to create digital art by use of various objects. Scanography was invented by early artists in this specific field who at the time were working with photocopiers which later produced Xerox art. Xerox art is the process of working with a photocopier to capture and print all in one step. In 1968 an artist by the name of Sonia Landy Sheridan was the first to utilize this type of art and was also the founder of the Generative Systems program at the Art Institute of Chicago. In the 1980s and 90s, there was an increased availability of photocopiers which resulted in people beginning to experiment with scanography by using specific parts of the body (hands, legs, butt, etc.).

A few examples of scanographer artists include Harold Feinstein, Joseph Scheer, Roberta Bailey, and Janet Dwyer. Something I noticed that all of these artists have in common, with the exception of Joseph Scheer who scanned moths for his series Night Visions, is that they all chose the same subject: flowers. Coincidentally enough, this is the same genre I covered when I first began experimenting with scanography for my Rebirth series. For this photo essay I have used various objects to capture distortion and movement. Here are my results.

Works Cited

"What is Scanography/Scannography Art?" What is Scanography/Scannography Art? N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.