Understand The Problem
Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that gives off a cyan blue print. This is unique as this is how blueprints were originally made in the 20th century for copying drawing. In this project however, I will be making a contact print. I will be creating 3 prints with a single negative.
Research and Investigate
John Herschel: Discovered the process in 1842. Used it mainly in reproducing notes and diagrams.
Anna Atkins: Created cyanotype limited-edition books that documented ferns and other plant life from her seaweed collection. Sometimes considered the first female photographer.
To create the cyanotype prints I will be coating paper with ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide with a design of choice. Then I will place my negative face down on the coated paper with glass on top flattening it all, exposing it to direct sunlight. Then rinsing the print will create a cyan print.
Generate Possible Solutions
In other cyanotypes, I feel that photographs with dark shadows and bright highlights make a cyanotype look detailed and individualized with contrast. I believe an image with many shadows would be very cool in a cyanotype and to shoot. I would also like to try and shoot depth as the border created by the chemical can act as a portal or looking glass.
Water
Lines
Bridges
Tree lines
Lattice
Sneakers
Coating Design
splatter
streaks
water/drops splatter around/with picture of water
oval brush strokes outlining
brush strokes surrounding
Plan and Develop
I am going to shoot and choose photos with depth and leading lines leading away from the camera. This will create a look as if the design of the chemical is a doorway leading through the photo.
Chemical will be painted three separate ways:
Regular rectangle with brush strokes randomly scattered on outline
Circular border with splatter surrounding border
Oval Outline with brush strokes surrounding moving in circle
Test and Evaluate
The negative I chose for this project ended up having great dark and light values creating a nice overall contrast that I am happy with. I do believe however, that the photo would be stronger if there was subject matter in the middle of the composition.
The design in which the chemical was painted came out how I wanted it to. However, it could have been exposed for a shorter amount of time as the darker parts of the image are covering details.
There is a clear border which takes away from my original plan for the cyanotype. It was exposed for too long so many details were left out. The painting of the chemical was stronger in some places and weaker in others. Despite the small amount of white taking away detail, most of the image holds good detail.
I love the way the design of the cyanotype came out with the splatter paint effect. I also enjoy the way the image comes out with no definite border.
However, you can see where the negative was not in full contact with the paper during exposure. There are many parts where there is not a clear focus with little detail. This was improved in further prints by putting rocks as weight on places where the negative and the paper were not in complete contact.
