What are Cyanotypes?
Cyanotypes are blue print images which don't need a camera to be done. To do make a cyanotype, you need to get a special blue paper and place your objects carefully onto it so it doesn't smudge. You then need to leave it to expose to natural light for roughly 10-15 minutes. Finally, you dip it in water until you can faintly see the objects and leave it to dry. |
Anna Atkins
Anna was an English botanist and photographer. She is considered the first person to publish a book illustrated with photographic images. Some sources claim she was the first women to create a photograph. In the 1850s Anna collaborated with Anne Dixon who was like a sister to her and produced at least three albums of cyanotype programs. |
Cyanotype expermient
My cyanotype didn't turn out so well. You couldn't see the objects on the paper and there were funny white lines on my paper. I don't think anything went well but it would have been better without the lines through the paper. Also, I should have exposed it to the light for longer, which would have meant my images would have appeared more clearly. The composition of it was quite good but there was quite a lot of blank spaces on the paper so i should have used more objects. If I had to do the expermient again I would use more creative objects and make the paper full, expose it to the light for longer and make sure my paper didn't have anything on it that would ruin the experiment. |
History
This technique was mostly used in the 20th century by engineers. Sir John Hershchel an Astronomer and Scientist discovered this process in 1842. One of the first people to use this process was Anna Atkins. She had published a book in 1843. You can see some of her work below. |