Saturday, September 24, 2022

Every year on the last Saturday of September, photographers and artists worldwide gather in backyards, parking lots, galleries and parks to celebrate this antiquarian photographic process and create cyanotype flags interpreting the word, experience, or concept of ENLIGHTEN. Strung together, the flags symbolize our united hearts and creative minds.

www.worldcyanotypeday.com

Cyanotypes are easy, fun, safe, and affordable. Traditionally, the process uses only two chemicals and the sun (UV light) and is rinsed with plain water to develop and fix. Because exposure is so slow, preparing and developing can be done in normal (low) light. No camera or special equipment are required. Anything that can absorb the solution and handle being rinsed in water can be printed on—paper, cloth, rocks, wood, bone, shell, ceramics, pages from old books, even egg shells. It is accessible to nearly everyone and is a great activity to do with children.

Artists and photographers have continually revitalized and advanced the medium, especially over the last 20 years, experimenting with new techniques and letting their imaginations and creativity soar.

Most of the following pieces are from World Cyanotype Day 2020 and 2021. They range from traditional photograms, made by simply placing flora or objects on the treated surface, to mixed media that incorporate other elements and techniques. Bleaching and toning converts the blue to sepia. “Wet” cyanotypes use vinegar to add unpredictable colors. Photographers can even print their own “large format” negatives using transparency film with their home inkjet printer.

Regrowth • Hayley Earnest • printed on white cloth
@hearnest.studio • Hayleyearnestphotography.com
This is a piece from my Nature Within project. Being out doors and admiring nature can help heal the mind, body, and soul.

Cyanotype is one of the oldest photographic printing processes, discovered in 1842 by Sir John Herschel three years after the birth of photography. It remained popular well into the 20th century, including as the process for copying architectural blueprints. The cyanotype was immediately put to use by Sir Herschel’s biologist friend Anna Atkins, who documented algae specimens with the new process.

My work explores the feminine spirit through vintage dresses and alternative process photography. My interest in fashion and dresses was sparked by my maternal grandmother, who altered her 1930’s wedding dress for me to play dress-up when I was little. She continues to inspire me today as I collect, photograph, and print the details in the dresses revealing an aura from the past.

Twenties Flapper • Kevin Rose Schultz • instagram.com/kevin.rose.schultz

Breathe – Ann Steurnagel – instagram.com/annsteuernagel

Petra Doležová Sound (2011) – Instagram: @rachelfeecyano

Galina Manikova • www.galina.no • facebook.com/fremmedart • instagram.com/galinamanikova

© Anita Back. cyano.anitaback.de

It is truly reassuring to see new contemporary artists keeping the form alive. In an era where photography is now as simple as clicking a button on a smartphone or other high-end cameras, cyanotypes manifest in their creators the need to slow down; the need to let nature take over and enjoy a free reign to conceive a masterpiece. Today, the technique is enjoying a resurgence, due to its natural elements and eco-friendly nature.
—Dr. Gunjan Shrivastava, A Professional Artist, Educator, Art Critic and
Co-founder of You Lead India Foundation

Anything that can absorb the photosensitive solution and stand up to the rinsing can be printed on—paper, cloth, rocks, wood, ceramics, pages from old books, even egg shells.

Nikki Soppelsa • instagram.com/nikki.soppelsa

“Wet” cyanotypes use vinegar to add unpredictable colors.

The root of all is planted in you • Patty Gordon • pattygmahon@gmail.com
Wet cyanotype on Hahnemuhle Harmony Hot Press Watercolor Paper

Blue Moon Garden

The situation we found ourselves in 2020 was a time of trial that we faced in various ways. My cyanotype series Blue Moon Garden has become a land where imagination, longing and experience met. Painting, cutting my negatives, spilled water and botanical are like the words of a novel in which the narrative develops slowly. Every leaf, blade of grass seems screamed: look how beautiful I am, how important!

In astrology Blue Moon means very rare second full moon in a month. It symbolises the moment of summing up and materialising what has developed over the past. Blue also embodies melancholy because -we become more and more lonely, detached from reality which is changing much faster than our beliefs and habits. Perhaps we will find the antidote in^lourselves as soon as we allow a balance between the expansion of the external world and the silence^lof the inner world.

Kasia Kalua Kryńska (Warsaw, Poland) Architect, designer and photographer. PhD in photography. Belongs to the Association of Polish Artists Photographers (ZPAF). Lecturer in photography. Her photographs have been shown in numerous individual and collective exhibitions in Poland, Ireland, Portugal, Holland, Germany, Spain and US and are held in private collections. She specialises in emotional photography, portraits and fine art photography, using traditional and alternative photography, works with photosensitive materials

www.kalua.pl
www.instagram.com/kasia.kalua.krynska

Beginning
Kasia Kalua Krynska

Eye Into Space • Ewa Laskowska • www.instagram.com/p/CUQVD1goyqa