A photographic technique where light rays directly create an image on a photosensitive surface without using a camera or lens, producing shadowgrams or photograms.
From Greek aktis meaning 'ray,' Latin auto meaning 'self,' and graphia meaning 'writing'; the term describes light's direct action in creating images without mechanical apparatus.
Man Ray and other avant-garde artists in the 1920s used actinautography (which he called 'rayographs') to create surreal art by placing objects directly on photographic paper and exposing it to light—it proved that you don't need a camera to make photographs!
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