Cyanotype Prints Gallery
A Collection of Cyanotypes: Hand Printed by David Chow
This collection of cyanotypes originate from the ‘Expressive Flower’ series of photographic images that have been produced by photographer David Chow over the last four years using both large and medium format film cameras. They feature in three self published hand made books, the first book simply entitled ‘Love’ was published in December 2005, now sold out, the second book entitled ‘Four seasons of Love’was released December 2007 and the third book ‘Love of Flowers’ is available December 2008.
He is now turning this large volume of black and flower portraits (The Expressive flower series) into unique hand made prints using more traditional methods. Cyanotype is the first method to be used, this will be followed by platinum & palladium printing. He will continue to produce self published books and portfolios on flowers however will always be looking at new ways to print them.
For this particular collection of Cyanotypes David has attempted to explore both the light blue tones of the Cyanotype process and also the more rather striking blue and white tones that are normally associated with this old process. As with all hand coated photographic processes each print in the portfolio is unique in terms of tone and colour.
Looking back at the history of photography, Cyanotypes were one of the very first photographic processes. The process was discovered 160 years ago by the English polymath and inventor, Sir John W.F. Herschel, who also invented the term "photography”. The first aesthetic application of the Cyanotype is credited to Anna Atkins, who worked with it in the 1840’s and 1850’s to illustrate her book ‘Photographs of British Algae : Cyanotype Impressions’. The heyday of the process was in the 1880’s, when architects and shipbuilders used pre-coated Cyanotype paper to make fast, inexpensive copies of line drawings, hence the term ‘blueprint’.
The process uses two chemicals, Ammonium iron(III) citrate and Potassium ferricyanide. When combined with water the result is a photo-sensitive solution, which can be used to coat any material, such as Watercolour paper. A positive image can be produced from a contact negative, the same size as the final print, by exposing it to a source of ultraviolet light, such as sunlight.
The UV light reduces the Iron (III) to Iron (II). This is followed by a complex reaction of the Iron(II) complex with ferricyanide. The result is an insoluble, blue dye (Ferric ferricyanide) known as Prussian blue. The developing of the picture takes place by flushing it with flowing water. The water-soluble Iron(II) salts are washed away, while the non-water-soluble Prussian Blue remain in the paper. This is what gives the picture its typical blue colour.
The original cyanotypes that Sir John Herschel made in the 1840s are still clear and beautiful and testament to the archival nature of this photographic process.
This collection of cyanotypes originate from the ‘Expressive Flower’ series of photographic images that have been produced by photographer David Chow over the last four years using both large and medium format film cameras. They feature in three self published hand made books, the first book simply entitled ‘Love’ was published in December 2005, now sold out, the second book entitled ‘Four seasons of Love’was released December 2007 and the third book ‘Love of Flowers’ is available December 2008.
He is now turning this large volume of black and flower portraits (The Expressive flower series) into unique hand made prints using more traditional methods. Cyanotype is the first method to be used, this will be followed by platinum & palladium printing. He will continue to produce self published books and portfolios on flowers however will always be looking at new ways to print them.
For this particular collection of Cyanotypes David has attempted to explore both the light blue tones of the Cyanotype process and also the more rather striking blue and white tones that are normally associated with this old process. As with all hand coated photographic processes each print in the portfolio is unique in terms of tone and colour.
Looking back at the history of photography, Cyanotypes were one of the very first photographic processes. The process was discovered 160 years ago by the English polymath and inventor, Sir John W.F. Herschel, who also invented the term "photography”. The first aesthetic application of the Cyanotype is credited to Anna Atkins, who worked with it in the 1840’s and 1850’s to illustrate her book ‘Photographs of British Algae : Cyanotype Impressions’. The heyday of the process was in the 1880’s, when architects and shipbuilders used pre-coated Cyanotype paper to make fast, inexpensive copies of line drawings, hence the term ‘blueprint’.
The process uses two chemicals, Ammonium iron(III) citrate and Potassium ferricyanide. When combined with water the result is a photo-sensitive solution, which can be used to coat any material, such as Watercolour paper. A positive image can be produced from a contact negative, the same size as the final print, by exposing it to a source of ultraviolet light, such as sunlight.
The UV light reduces the Iron (III) to Iron (II). This is followed by a complex reaction of the Iron(II) complex with ferricyanide. The result is an insoluble, blue dye (Ferric ferricyanide) known as Prussian blue. The developing of the picture takes place by flushing it with flowing water. The water-soluble Iron(II) salts are washed away, while the non-water-soluble Prussian Blue remain in the paper. This is what gives the picture its typical blue colour.
The original cyanotypes that Sir John Herschel made in the 1840s are still clear and beautiful and testament to the archival nature of this photographic process.