Introduction to cyanotype

Project: Summer of Play and Exploration

It’s been a while since I wanted to try to print using the cyanotype process. (Just to tell you, I bought the chemistry at the very beginning of the pandemic and it’s still not open.) I’ve been holding onto this little project for a while and finally managed to find time to devote myself to it! Well at least to do some tests. 

Last Friday I went back to L'imprimerie, centre d’artistes to do a small cyanotype workshop with my former colleague, Camille, the cyanotype pro. (I tell you, she’s THE reference in the matter!) I was super happy to go back to my old place of work, however this time as a member. 

In short, this technique is a little more artisanal and experimental than printing in a traditional darkroom. We mix the components of the emulsion ourselves (which is reactive to UV rays) and coat it on a sheet of paper. Once the emulsion is completely dried, we put our image on it (in my case I used a photo I had already taken, printed on a transparent film) and we expose it to the UV ray (UV lamp or sun). Once the exposure is complete, the print is rinsed in a solution of water and citric acid to reveal the image and rinsed again in a second water tank. Then we sponge off the excess water on the print and let it dry.

You can see below a part of my process.

I really loved this experience! What I love about this technique is that it’s simple and easy to do at home. As you can see, our first test with the photo of Stella (Australian shepherd) is quite successful and the final impression is beautiful! We had a little problem with the other one, for which we hadn’t done any tests. Anyways, these are only preliminary tests! I’m having a bunch of ideas for a project I could do using this technique!

I’m curious to know what you think! Tell me your first impressions in the comments below :)

What do you think about this process? Did you already know about it?