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Artist/Maker
Zana Briski
(British-American, born 1966)
Date2020
MediumUnique gold-toned photogram on gelatin silver paper
DimensionsFrame: 45 3/4 × 57 1/4 in. (116.2 × 145.4 cm)
Image: 39 1/2 × 51 1/4 in. (100.3 × 130.2 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, William G. Roehrick '34 Art Acquisition and Preservation Fund
Object number2024.12.1
On view
DescriptionMade in a forest in New York State on a moonless night, Zana Briski’s photogram—or “bearogram”—is a unique life-size photographic impression of a wild black bear created using a cameraless photographic technique. This female bear, nicknamed Auggie (because Briski first encountered her in August), was around one and a half years old when the image was made. The artist has noted that creating photograms in partnership with forest animals “takes tremendous trust, openness, and stillness,” and she takes great care to be respectful of these wild creatures.
Part of Briski’s Animalogram series, this work was made by setting up an eight-foot-long sheet of photographic paper on a cloudy night (when moonlight would not interfere with the exposure), in a location in the Catskills where the artist had previously noticed animal activity. In full view of the forest’s inhabitants, Briski waited quietly until the subject passed in front of the paper and let off a hand-held flash that is bright enough to make the exposure without disturbing the animal. After the young bear had moved on, the paper was placed into a lightproof box and transported back to the darkroom where it was developed using traditional analogue techniques and toned with pure gold. Briski considers each Animalogram to be a collaboration between her and the animal whose form is silhouetted on the paper, resulting in what she calls a “ghostly gift which reflects the fragility and majesty of the natural world.”
Collections
Additional Details
Alternate Titles
Bearogram (Auggie)
Exhibition History
2024-2025
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).
Markings
Verso, lower left (White label, black marker): "Zana Briski / Bearogram (Auggie) / Unique photogram / Silver gelatine print, gold-toned / 9/2/20 9:19 pm / New York State"
Verso, lower center (white label, printed black ink): Care and cleaning instructions for frame and museum optium acrylic glazing
Verso, lower center (white label, printed black ink): Care and cleaning instructions for frame and museum optium acrylic glazing
Alyson Shotz
Date: 2019
Medium: Suite of four salt print photograms within a portfolio case with colophon
Object number: 2019.14.1-4
Jamea Richmond-Edwards
Date: 2018
Medium: Pigment print with silkscreen diamond dust and gold foil
Object number: 2020.1
John Marin
Date: c. 1917 (dated 1916)
Medium: Watercolor and graphite on paper
Object number: 1962.4
Thomas Nast
Date: published November 28, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.262
Thomas Nast
Date: published February 6, 1875
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: S2019.2.103
Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka
Date: 2021
Medium: Sumi paintings on washi, linocut on washi, rice bags, indigo, kakishibu, and gyotaku on washi, konnyaku, and handmade deckle box gampi paper
Object number: 2024.15