Cyanotypes

 To create my cyanotypes, I mixed up some cyanotype solution under artificial lighting (potassium ferricyanide and ammonium citrate and equal weightings of water). After the solution was combined, I then used a paint brush and other items such as a sponge to apply the solution to the cartridge paper. After ‘creative patterned’ coatings were applied, I then dried these and placed them inside a light-tight box for the time being.


I then set to work creating my digital negatives- using my digital photos; I de-saturated the colours to black and white with a high contrast and inverted them in Photoshop for a negative image. I then printed these onto acetate (by setting the printer to print on ‘transparency’.

 

When the printer ink on the negatives was dry, I took them outside with the boxed cyanotype paper along with a clear contact frame and a tray of water. I set out the contact frame indoors with the cyanotype paper underneath the negative and closed inside the frame. This was then exposed to the sunlight for about 5 minutes until the paper went from a green colour to ‘gun metal grey’. I then transferred the print over to the water tray and left it to develop until it turned a cyan blue colour and the image became clearer.

Luckily for me, it was quite a nice day outside so I just left my print to dry outside, weighted down by some stones which took only minutes.

At first, I wasn’t very optimistic about the prints as they took a long while to turn gun metal grey, however, I discovered that the exposure time was shortened if the cyanotype solution was pasted on the paper thicker in layers.

Overall, I was very pleased with my prints in the end, my favourite being the Snow White Studio print due to  the textures within the cyanotype solution and the way that it was dried. It reminds me of an old, vintage photograph, much like her style and outfit. Even the cyan colour relates to the character and emphasises the theme.