Recently I’ve become fascinated by alternative processes for printing images. One of the first I tried was Cyanotype printing, a process developed by Sir John Herschel in the 1840’s. Paper or another substrate is coated with light sensitive chemicals and then exposed to sunlight, or to light from other UV sources. The light bleaches the color from the substrate in the areas not shielded from the light. The most recognizable use of this process is for blueprints, such as those used by architects. Shortly after Herschel’s invention of the process, Anna Atkins created a series of prints documenting her seaweed collection. She put these together into a series of limited-edition books and is credited as being the first female photographer, and of creating the first scientific book that used photographic prints. I saw some of these at an exhibit in the N.Y. Public Library in Manhattan several years ago and was transfixed by their ethereal beauty.

I’ve done some prints using commercially made cyanotype paper and have also toned some of the resulting prints in coffee to make them brown instead of blue.