Slow Soul Studio

In 2008 I started taking studio art classes at a community college with the intention of pursuing a second degree. Four classes later I have a 4.0 and no intention of continuing any time soon.  I never really looked at the catalog descriptions, as they were incorrect 99.9% of the time, so the syllabus was a surprise each time I started a new class.

One class was Advanced Photography, or Alternative Photographic Processes.  I don’t understand cameras, I bumble in the darkroom, and most of the photos I take are with the camera on my phone, which is actually fairly decent.  Occasionally I take some decent shots.  But I do love alt photo processes so I keep plugging away at it.

When Jodi at jodimichelle.com tweeted about wanting to do something more with all the photos she was taking, I practically begged her to meet me & try out cyanotypes. Because she inspires me.  And I love sharing incredible stuff. Cyanotypes are incredible.

Cyanotypes are chemistry + sunshine + contact printing + magic.  Cyanotypes are a white image on blue background.  Where the coating of cyanotype solution is exposed to sunlight (or UV rays in a lightbox) a blue color remains after the exposure and rinsing.  Cyanotypes don’t require a darkroom, developer, fixer, enlarger, any of that.  Here is what you do need:

• Cyanotype printing solution
• Watercolor paper
• Frame with glass front & sturdy back. Cheap is good.
• Binder clips (with a back as wide as your frame is deep)
• Plastic cup
• Foam brush
• Digital negative or flowers or twigs or ferns or ribbon or stickers or whatever your heart desires.

Cyanotype printing solution is available at Bostick and Sullivan, an online shop for alternive photo processing materials. http://www.bostick-sullivan.com/  The Cyanotype Printing Kit - 250 mL is 1 bottle of Potassium ferricyanide and 1 bottle of Ferric ammonium citrate. All you need to do is add water & shake.  It is extremely important to keep these bottles away from your children and pets. Did you notice cyanide in the ingredients? It’s there.  Just like you don’t let pets & children play willy-nilly with cleaning compounds or medicine, you should not allow them access to photo supplies.

When you are ready to prepare papers you mix equal parts of each solution in a little paper or styrofoam or plastic cup. It takes approximately 1 tsp of each solution (2 tsp total) to coat five 9”x12” papers.  I like to measure and mark the area that will be coated, according to the size of the negative or materials I intend to use. A cheap foam brush ($.39 from a hardware store, $.79 from a craft store) works well and can be disposed of with the cup when you are finished. I buy them in bulk. One set of strokes in one direction, a second set of strokes in the perpendicular direction, nice and even, steady and sure, should provide a sufficient coat.  The beauty of cyanotypes for beginners is that you don’t need a safe light, a regular incandescent bulb is fine.  You do want to avoid fluorescent lights and sunlight.

Once the papers are coated, let them dry. Dry dry. Moisture in the papers will burn into the image if you try to expose them before they are dry.

Now it’s time to print! My set up costs about $6. I use a “frameless frame” that consists of a sheet of glass, a board, and tension clips. I discard the clips and use binder clips. An old dish towel taped over the board for a tighter fit, and I’m all set.  The frame can be bought at a craft store or supermarket.  Binder clips are available at the supermarket or office supply store. Contact printing frames can be bought for ~$50 and up online.

When I am printing with a digital negative, I like to tape the negative directly to the glass, and use a frame the size of the paper.  This allows for consistency when printing a series and eliminates the possibility of accidentally reversing the negative halfway through a series.  If you are doing a contact print of a digital negative or a photogram the build process is:

1. Board
2. Towel
3. Paper (coated side up)
4. Digital negative or flower/twig/ribbon/grass/sand/sticker/cut out shape/etc.
5. Glass*
6. Binder clips around the edges squeezing it all tight.**

At this point you are ready to take your set up outside & let it sit in the sun.  It can take from 2 minutes to 30, depending on how direct and bright your sunlight is. Another beauty of cyanotype printing is the coating will change coloring as it reacts with the UV light.  The process is called silvering out, but what is important is you should notice a change in color of the coating.  Some will argue this is the benefit of a contact printing frame, because the hinged back allows you to open one side and pull the paper away to check for change.  I don’t think it is worth the $50 price for printing on a small scale.

It may take some trial and error, but it’s not difficult to tell if you are underexposing a print.

At this point you are ready to rinse.  In a bathtub or large sink with a flat bottom, stop the drain and rinse the front of the paper as soon as you take it out of the frame.  Remember zero exposure to sunlight or fluorescent lights when it is outside of the frame.  You should see swirls of blue washing away from the paper. At this point you can submerge the paper face down and let the remainder of the cyanotype solution wash away as you continue with more prints. 

Ideally it is nice to have screen racks to dry the finished prints on.  Hanging from clips works too.  Or you can investigate methods for drying the papers with presses. I’m content with hanging with clips.

Another fantastic thing about cyanotypes is that they are considered archival quality.  If the color starts to fade after hanging on the wall, store the print in a dark place for a couple days, bring it out again and the color is magically refreshed.  Magic.

I will attempt to write a “how to” for creating digital negatives in the future.  For more technical details about this process check out the Cyanotypes section of AlternativePhotography.com. There you can find links to authors, artists, and photographers, books and workshops, or you can get distracted by all the other types of alternative photo processes.  For inspiration I recommend Martha Casanave’s website.

If you are in or near Holland, Michigan and want to try this for yourself, contact me, and I can attempt to organize a small workshop for you. If you have any questions or critiques, I’m open to those to.  I’m not a professional photographer or writer, so what is presented here is what I know and how I work.

*Anytime you are continually handling glass it is is good to take precautionary measure.  I wrap the edges of my glass with electrical tape to prevent nicking my fingers.

**If your paper is coated with solution to the edge of the paper or if you are using large binder clips be mindful they may become part of the print.  Either leave a margin on the paper when you are coating or place the binder clips as close to the edge as possible.