photogram

Etymology

From photo- + -gram.

photogram means A photograph made without using a camera; normally by placing an object in contact with photosensitive paper and exposing it to light. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.

Why this word is great

PHOTOGRAM — [Noun] A photographic image produced without a camera by placing objects directly upon photosensitive paper and exposing the arrangement to light. From the combining form photo- (from Ancient Greek φῶς (phôs, "light")) + -gram (from Ancient Greek γράμμα (grámma, "something written, a drawing")). Unlike a "photograph," which interprets the world through the distancing mechanics of a lens, or a "rayograph," which connotes a specific, surrealist artistry, a photogram is light's unadorned transcription of presence and absence. It is the stark, white skeleton of a fern pressed upon a black field; the translucent halo left by a watch crystal; the fossil-like impression of a key, its teeth biting into the paper—each a direct tracing of the world, reminding us that the most profound impressions are often made by simply lying in the light.

noun

A photograph made without using a camera; normally by placing an object in contact with photosensitive paper and exposing it to light.