Keppel Bay [cyanotype print]
Apart from the regular darkroom work, I sometimes dabble in alternative photography. And one of them is cyanotype printing. Cyanotyping is quite easy to do as it require no darkroom. All you need is the sun.
Materials needed are the two basic chemicals for cyanotypes; Potassium Ferricyanide and Ferric Ammonium Citrate, a brush, some paper, a contact frame and sunlight.
Mixing the two chemicals will create a photo sensitive emulsion that you can coat on various surfaces. Paper, clothes, etc. Leave it to dry and then place your image source (in the photo above it is a 4×5 negative) and sandwich it in a contact frame. Then you leave it under the sun for about 20 minutes and wash after. Simple as that.
The source can be various objects as well. Negatives (at least 120mm is recommended), leaves, flowers…anything that you want to imprint on the surface. Sunning time depends on the strength of the chemicals and the image source so it may take 20 mins to a few hours.
If anybody is interested to learn more about cyanotyping, I do hold classes and also sell the cyanotype kits so you can get started on the printing immediately!
