Vortograph in one of the first completely abstract kind of
photograph, it is composed of kaleidoscopic repetitions of
forms achieved by photographing objects through a
triangular arrangement of three mirrors. Alvin Langdon
Coburn, a member of the Photo-Secession group and a
pioneer in nonobjective photography, invented vortography
in 1917 and remained the principal advocate and
practitioner of the technique.
The fractured planes and complex space characteristic of
vortography reflect the Vorticists’ as well as Coburn’s own
interest in Cubism.
