Cyanotypes: Photographs Exposed by the Sun

It has been a very long time since I have made Cyanotypes and it feels good to get back to it. This highly unique photographic process was discovered by Sir John Herschel in 1842.

It involves applying the cyanotype emulsion (ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide) to watercolor paper (or an absorbent surface) and exposing the emulsion in the sun (or UV light) with photo negatives or objects, then washing away the emulsion with water. In this case I used some plants from our yard. I was very happy with these results and my mind is spinning now with what I can create next. These prints will be available in my shop soon, but for now please enjoy the show:

The photos above are the finished product. I like to experiment with different techniques. Before I coated the watercolor paper with the emulsion, I spray painted the paper with a touch of pink to add texture and color (on some of them).

Overall between picking up supplies, cutting paper down to size, spray painting, coating the paper with emulsion and finally print day, it took a week to plan and strategize all of this.

Behind the Scenes

To give you an idea of what it looks like behind the scenes, I put plants on top of the paper that I expose in the sun, and a sheet of glass ontop of that. I taped the edges of the glass before doing any of this with painters tape so I wouldn't hurt myself on the glass.

It was so bright and sunny I only exposed these for about 10 minutes. The Jacquard products I used for this recommend anywhere from 3-30 minutes of exposure time. If you try this at home I think you would be pleased to find out that the emulsion is really flexible on time. It should be well noted though, as the sun gets lower on the horizon more time is needed to get that rich cyanotype blue.

After exposing, the prints need to be washed in a bath of water, to remove the exposing emulsion, for at the very least 5 minutes. Then lay flat to dry or hang to dry.

The Next Round

Now that I have gotten in one full print day, my mind is buzzing with ideas of things to compose, experimenting with exposure times and whether or not to use hydrogen peroxide during the wash process (which oxidizes the cyanotype to that deep rich blue).

Please let me know what you think about this process and what you would like to see more of in the comments below.