Cyanotypes are a photographic process invented in 1842 by astronomer Sir John Hirschel. Unlike traditional silver-based photography, this alternative method produces beautiful Prussian Blue monochrome images you can expose in sunlight and develop in water.
In this workshop you’ll learn how to use the cyanotype process to make one of a kind prints from your digital negatives. I’ll provide you some sample art from my archive to remix, or you can get creative and make a cameraless picture from different materials by placing items such as plants, glass, toys, or fabric directly on the paper. Feel free to bring items from home for printmaking experiments!
If you want to prepare some images before the workshop, here are the steps to produce your negatives. Please email hello@bendavis.la to let me know you’d like to print a negative in advance.
Instructions on how to prepare your file ahead of time:
- Convert the image to Black and White
- Invert the image
- Mirror / Flip the image Horizontally (needed for text)
- Resize image to 300 dpi, 8x10 in
- Save as JPG - Firstname_Lastname_HM.jpg
- Upload to this shared folder:Heavy Manners Oct 12 Cyanotypes
