Cyanotypes
Cyanotypes are very mysterious images, coming out as blue and white images of known objects looking alien. You achieve this by placing objects on light sensitive paper and then shine a U.V light on the paper. After a few minuets place the paper in water and wash the chemicals off. When it's dry you'll be leaving people guessing just what there're looking at.
The cyanotype process was used remarkably well by Anna Atkins who published a 12 part book with her cynaotypes in. The book was the first to be published with such art in, making Anna the face of the new art. She discovered the new art form because of her neighbour who at the time was an astronomer, he discovered that paper soaked in a a salt solution would leave an imprint of whatever's on it when exposed to U.V light.
Being a women in the mid-1800's she was not encouraged to be apart of a new and modern art form. Non the less she became an extremely skilled and well known photographer. She gave the name "photography" it's meaning: photo, meaning light, and graph, meaning to draw. To draw with light is exactly what she was doing. The process, along with being interesting to the eye and overall beautiful, is cheap and easy to do. All she needed to make a masterpiece was some plants and the cheap chemicals needed to make the surface to work on. You don't even need a U.V light; sunlight works just as well.
Own cyanotype 1My intention was to use heavy objects so they would leave a strong outline. But as you can see, a lot of light has crept under neath my watch and my phone. Also all the other objects didn't come out at all, witch was something I wanted to improve in my second photo.
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"The difficulty of making accurate drawings of objects as minute as many of the Algae and Confera, has induced me to avail myself of Sir John Herschel’s beautiful process of Cyanotype, to obtain impressions of the plants themselves, which I have much pleasure in offering to my botanical friends."
—Anna Atkins, October 1843 Perhaps one of the best things about her pictures is the fact they can capture more detail than any other camera at the time. The tiniest flake of wood, or the smallest root would be imprinted on her work for a life time.
This is one of my favourite, because of the way she has arranged the leafs. More specifically the way the larger leaf looks like it's stemming from the smaller plant, like it's growing and developing as I speak. Furthermore, the contrast between the deep blue and the sharp white brings the picture back to Anna's original concept: the deep blue see.
Own cyanotype 2Although coming through slighty better than my first image, the objects used have not come out as sharp and bold as I wanted. Although it is more interesting than my first image, this is because I have combined two objects together: the ruler and the headphones. Still not perfect, but it has more story than my first image.
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