Cyanotype

Cyanotype was discovered in 1844 by John Herschel, a member of the British Royal Society, but it was overlooked as a useful technology until it was popularized as a photoreproduction method in the 1880s. It became so ubiquitous that we still refer to building plans as “blueprints” today. It wasn’t until the invention of photocopiers that it fell out of regular use, and artists began to experiment with cyanotype in earnest. It was previously assumed that cyanotype was unsuitable for photography due to a narrow range of contrast, but artists have since pushed the medium far beyond what anyone previously assumed possible. To me, it is the story of an entire artistic medium deemed inferior due to its association with blue-collar work.

Another important part of the story, is the work of Anna Atkins. She was a family friend of John Herschel, who had shared with her the process. Atkins travelled around the British coast collecting and documenting seaweed specimens, eventually publishing the world’s first book illustrated with photographs, and becoming one of the first women to be recognized for her contributions to science. Her methods are often employed today as a way of teaching the basics of photography, and many artists continue her traditions of contact-printing botanicals.

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