Embedded Files
Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that produces a cyan blue print, thus the name. Engineers used the method well into the 20th century as a simple and low-cost means to produce copies of drawings, referred to as blueprints. The process uses two chemicals: ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide.
The English scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel discovered the procedure in 1842, years before the discovery of traditional photographic processes. Although Herschel invented the technique, Anna Atkins is sometimes considered the first female photographer because she created a series of cyanotype limited edition books that documented ferns and other plant life from her extensive seaweed collection. She placed the specimens directly onto coated paper and allowed the action of sunlight to create a silhouette effect.
Who was Anna Atkins?
Who was Anna Atkins?
We are looking at a white-ish blue, organically-shaped form radiating from a central point, and surrounded by a rich, flat cyan-blue tone. Little here gives a clue as to what this is—Is it a drawing? A plant? A print?—but a small cursive label at the bottom offers our first clue, Dityota atomaria. This Latin name for a species of algae suggests a scientific origin—perhaps that this is a botanical specimen. In fact, we are looking at a photograph on paper by Anna Atkins of a single dried piece of British algae. Today one might view a photograph by Atkins framed on a gallery wall or alone on a website, but originally her works were part of the book Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, which she self published by hand in 1843. The book, created just four years after the publicized invention of photography, was entirely printed with cyanotype photographs, a newly discovered method for fixing light impressions on paper.
Although Atkins is often known for these bright-blue photographs, she studied botany and scientific illustration for her entire life. In 19th-century Victorian England, women were not permitted to be professional scientists, and were known as “amateurs.” They were not admitted to scientific societies, employed to conduct research, or able to publish or present their work. Despite these societal restrictions, Atkins’s 1843 book of algae was the first-ever published book of photographs. Atkins’s interest in science and botany developed from an early age with the help of her father John George Children, a well-known chemist and a member of the United Kingdom’s The Royal Society. Atkin’s marriage to the wealthy merchant John Pelly Atkins offered both financial stability and support as she pursued these interests in botany and photography. After her first early foray into photography just after its discovery, Atkins worked with botanical specimens and cyanotypes for over twenty years, producing a huge body of work that today sits somewhere in-between works of art and works of science.
PHOTO NEGATIVES USING PHOTOSHOP
Choose a photo with good contrast.
Open it in Photoshop
Turn it Black and White using the Adjustment Panel or the black and white circle at the bottom of the layer panel
Choose Invert from the Adjustment Panel or the black and white circle at the bottom of the layer panel.
Go up to IMAGE> IMAGE SIZE and make the longest side 6 inches.
Save a copy as a jpeg and upload 3 different images to Classroom.
Get a piece of 5x7 Nature Print Paper. Careful not to get wet fingerprints on it.
2. Collect various natural objects: leaves, flowers, twigs, etc. If you want to design a scene, you can cut shapes from opaque paper.
3. Place the Nature Print paper on top of a large piece of plexiglass or cardboard. In a room with little sunlight, arrange the objects and shapes on top of the paper, they may extend past the edge.
4. Place the small plexiglass on top of those objects
5. Bring into sunlight, make sure the entire paper gets fully exposed. Wait 1-3 minutes, depending on how sunny it is and how dark you want the blue to get.
6. Prepare a tub of water that will fit the whole sheet of paper.
7. After exposure to sunlight, place the paper into water bath.
8. Submerge and agitate until image appears white.
9. Dry by laying flat on paper towel.
https://maverickbeyond.com/2023/02/03/easy-step-by-step-instructions-for-starting-your-cyanotype-photography-journey/maverickbeyond.com/2023/02/03/easy-step-by-step-instructions-for-starting-your-cyanotype-photography-journey/
Report abuse