by Editor Wicher Bos 

The chiro what?  That was actually my reaction when I came across this word.
Those with command of Latin probably know that chirograph means handwritten. Yet, it did not solve my mystery.

There is often this contrast made between photography and painting. In all possible ways – right from the beginning… A photograph was called “a mirror of reality” whereas painting clearly wasn’t - in paintings everything was created by the artist…

Nowadays, we see the two arts coming closer together, a result of the digital processing possibilities. In a sense, the modern photographer must become a bit of a painter, editing photos without any knowledge of painting is risky… before you know it there is a misplaced shade or unnatural light which is spotted immediately.

Physically combining painting and photography and combining them into new image, that is a photo-chirograph. A term, I recently found in an article. The article described what impact combining a photo and a chirograph (be it a painting or drawing) had on its viewers. We will not go into that now, but focus on what these combinations are. Can we find them on 1x.com?

'Sketch the dream' by Sebastien DEL GROSSO

'Goldfingers' by Edith Hoffman

To answer the first question
A famous modern artist that combines photography and drawing and publishes his on Instagram is @lucaslevitan. He adds a drawing to an existing photograph and thus creates a new meaning, usually a funny one. He refers to it as Photo Invasion (his Instagram project). He says that adding a drawing unveils hidden stories.

Just an example of his work:
 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4UgBowoMUy/

And the second question?
Well, 1x.com is known for its exquisite images, all master pieces of art. And no surprise, I could find some beautiful examples of the photo-chirograph (that is as far as I can see).

Artist Sebastien DEL GROSSO  has quite a few works that combine a photo and manual drawing/painting images. I selected a few:

'Sketch and paint' by Sebastien DEL GROSSO

'sketches II' by Sebastien DEL GROSSO

'the Life' by Sebastien DEL GROSSO

'Sketch your (x) dreams' by Sebastien DEL GROSSO

'Sketch the sketcher' by Sebastien DEL GROSSO

Other examples (if I interpret the images right) on 1x.com are:
Dutch artist Edith Hoffman 

 
'Dreams' by Edith Hoffman

'Painting Within a Painting 2' by Edith Hoffman

'Indian roots' by Edith Hoffman

'Break free' by Edith Hoffman

'Sealed with a kiss' by Edith Hoffman

'Painting Within a Painting 1' by Edith Hoffman

And Serbia born Dalibor Davidovic .

 '
Shadows (one way) by Dalibor Davidovic

'shadows (Portrait)' by Dalibor Davidovic

One final note: Photo-chirograph, the way I understood it, is NOT just a juxtaposition like this one… At least if the figures painted on the wall were graffiti and not drawn / added by the photographer later on as a drawing/painting… of course this image is still incredibly beautiful and full of meaning…

'Evolution' by Tatsuo Suzuki

Please check out the portfolios of these artists too, there is a lot more to see there…

I hope you enjoyed the selection… sometimes it is hard to see where the photo starts and the painting ends… but still all remarkable art, although it made me wonder: when an image ceases to be a photo? But then again, is that really relevant for an art lover?

Wicher

For you reference: https://www.lucaslevitan.com/