Images made using photosensitive materials but without cameras is the subject of the DePaul University Art Gallery opening exhibition for 2002. “This is [not] a Photograph” will feature the work of 15 contemporary artists in an exhibition that runs from Jan. 18 to March 10 at 2350 N. Kenmore Ave.

Recording images on to light sensitive paper without the use of lenses was the earliest form of photography. The method was pioneered in the 1830s by William Henry Fox Talbot who recorded sunlight passing through leaves. The invention of cameras and optical devices followed quickly, but so-called photograms generated a unique aesthetic – not what the camera can capture, but what the materials themselves can do.

Photograms are also called “rayographs” in recognition of the contribution made by surrealist artist Man Ray, an early master of the art form.

According to Louise Lincoln, director of the gallery, Talbot’s original concept of exploring light and form without a camera or lens has been updated every decade. “This interesting work made with photosensitive materials, but without cameras, was popularized in the 1920s and ’30s by Christian Schad, Man Ray and Lazlo Moholy-Nagy,” explained Lincoln. “Every decade something new was added. Lotte Jacobi and Carlotta Capron were the innovators of the ’40s and ’50s, and Frederick Sommer and Robert Heineken in the ’60s and ’70s.”

Among the artists featured in “This is [not] a Photograph,” Adam Fuss is perhaps the best known. He recorded abstract images that derive from plants, small animals, babies, smoke and pendulums.

The exhibition is curated by Roger Sayre. The touring exhibition is made possible by Pamela Auchincloss Arts Management.

“This is [not] a Photograph” is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. An opening reception for the upcoming exhibition will be held Jan. 18 in the gallery from 5 to 7 p.m. For more information about the DePaul Art Gallery, visit its Web site at http://www.depaul.edu/~gallery.