Capturing shadows

The art and science happening in my studio

Fresh new work from my lab studio! As I continue to make things with my hands I have been learning and experimenting with cyanotypes. Cyanotypes are an old photographic process where a photo-sensitive solution is applied to paper. In sunlight, or under a UV lamp, the paper exposed to the light changes color. Any objects that hide the paper from the light are imprinted on the paper like a permanent shadow.

The process is simple, but with many nuances and lots of room for creative expression.

The solution is only painted on part of the paper in this image. I used a digital negative of one of my drawings.

Preparing the paper makes me nervous for no reason. It’s very straightforward: you mix the two solutions in equal parts and you paint that liquid on paper. There’s a time factor because the liquid eventually expires—but it takes more than two hours so it’s not like I’m running out of time. The real challenge is having enough places to leave the paper to dry. An ounce of liquid covers a lot of surface so I’ve had to get creative to have lots of papers laid out to dry.

The paper used here is from an old dictionary. Exposure times are affected by the type of paper—this one is quicker.

So far I have made my cyanotypes with digital negatives—a digital image printed on a transparency—that can be a photograph or a drawing. I’ve also tried stencils; paper stencils so that the light doesn’t shine through to the treated paper. One of the most popular ways of making cyanotypes is using plants and flowers. That’s next on my list!

Because it’s winter, I’ve been working inside using a UV lamp. Soon I’ll be able to go outside and make them in the sun.

I’ve also tried different kinds of paper—wet strength tissue is one of my favorites. I was surprised to learn I could paint it, rinse it, and have it dry into something so cool.

Cyanotype using stencils on wet strength tissue paper: from exposure to final result.

There’s a bit of a thrill every time I rinse a new image to see the brilliant blue emerge. After it’s rinsed it takes some time for it to fully develop and turn deep blue. I’ve learned you can speed the process up by adding diluted hydrogen peroxide to the final rinse.

Learning how to make cyanotypes has opened up an entirely new creative path for me. It’s taking my photography and collaging to new levels and it’s teaching me to appreciate the process. As AI advances and computers can do more and more, making something with my hands, that is beautifully imperfect, is satisfying and joyful.

Happily, there is so much more to learn and try. Did you know you can do cyanotypes on fabric? Or that you can tint it in the rinse so that it’s no longer blue? Or that you can make wet cyanotypes and add powders such as spices to create colors and textures?

This is going to be fun!

Thank you for reading Photographs and Stories it means a lot to me that you do.