Ivy Tentacles on Glass, Chicago

Callahan’s photographs from the 1940s share the principles of Bauhaus design and experimentation, showing a strong sense of light, line and form. His work is imbued with a greater emotional resonance than other photographers associated with the New Bauhaus, although much of his work from this period explores total abstraction and the technicalities of the photographic medium. Callahan often used double and triple exposures, blurs, extreme contrasts and collage.