Cyanotypes are a low-cost type of photography that prints objects onto a cyan background, creating a white print by using the chemicals ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide.

The process of creating cyanotypes was discovered by a British scientist called Sir John Herschel in 1842 who was originally trying to copy his notes. Using hyposulphite of soda, he’d been able to fix photos in 1839 then discovered that paper coated with ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide then exposed to sun would turn the page to a dark blue colour unless there was an object placed onto the paper that blocked the sun, in this scenario the paper would stay white or tint blue [depending on how much exposure it’s had to the sun].

Despite Herschel’s hard work, Anna Atkins was the first person to produce a photographically illustrated book using cyanotypes which popularized the use of cyanotypes and photographic illustrations in general. Her self-published work [Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions] was detailed, so detailed that species could be distinguished from one another – even with their creative compositions!

Creating Cyanotypes

Using pre-prepared cyanotypes paper [and an interesting selection of flowers, pebbles and plants] I made my own cyanotype. It was a short, yet fun, process that was slightly challenging as the composition couldn’t be changed once the objects were put on the paper without leaving a mark.

Overall, I like the look of my final piece – though I do think I left the paper in the sun too long which made it overexpose, causing the objects to be a pale blue instead of a bright white. I think my composition is visually appealing as there isn’t too much going on [although I do think I could’ve added more objects] and the pebbles fill up the empty spaces, making it look minimalistic which is appealing to a lot of people.