Cynotypes
What Is A Cyanotype?
A cyanotype is a 170 year old photographic printing process. The process was invented by Sir John Herschel a brilliant astronomer and scientist. Herschel didn't only use cyanotypes for photography but for recording notes. A family friend, Anna Atkins decided to take cyanotypes to the photography level. Compared to any other printing process, cyanotypes is easy and inexpensive. For the process no dark room is needed, it uses the iron from the sun to create almost shadows of whatever is put on top of it. How to make a cyanotype. A cyanotype or photographic blueprint can be produced by getting paper or a cloth, and coating it with potassium ferricyaice and ammonium citrate and mixing them with water. the mix that you have made should then be evenly blended together onto the paper. This should be left in a dark place to dry. A positive image can be created by exposing it to a source of ultraviolet light such as sunlight, through a negative. when the paper is exposed to the light the paper will start to turn a steel-grey-blue colour (this usually takes about 10-20 mins). Then it should be washed, the water wash reduces the final print values. My Cyanotype Experiment. In my cynotype experiment we had to choose some objects to use. I used my phone case, a ,light bulb, my bracelet, an army figure and a cylinder with holes in it. Then we went outside and we were given a piece of sketchbook paper that was covered in the chemicals and we had to place our objects on it. Then we had to wait for 10 minutes without touching or moving any of our objects. Once the 10 minutes were over we brought outr cynotypes back to the classroom and we ran them under the tap, cleaning them and helping them develop properly. |