An empty FA studio - a sheer joy!

My first cyanotype print! (inspiration from Walead Beshty's exhibition at The Barbican)

One of the reasons why I like the cyanotype photographic process is that the deep (or not-so-deep) blue reminds of my textile days, experimenting with the indigo vat.

The other is, of course, the x-ray like image which appears like a ghost on the page. Mysterious, yet obvious.



Cyanotype is an old monochrome photographic printing process which gives a cyan-blue print.

The English scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel discovered this procedure in 1842. Though Herschel is perhaps the inventor of the cyanotype process, it was Anna Atkins, a British scientist, who brought the process into the realm of photography. She created a limited series of cyanotype books that documented ferns and other plant life. By using this process, Anna Atkins is regarded as the first woman photographer. (from instructables.com)

Comparing dry paint with the cyanotype print

The texture of both the dry acryllic paint and hard alginate build an interesting contrast strong midnight blue/white print. I prefer the light blue alginate. The mixed colour pallet of acryllic paint seems too much for my eye. Where do I focus?

Dried alginate sample on cyanotype print