Cyanotype

By Amber Molland- Allman

Cyanotype.
Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that produces a
cyan-blue print. Engineers used the process well into the 20th
century as a simple and low-cost process to produce copies of
drawings, referred to as blueprints. The process uses two
chemicals: ammonium iron citrate and potassium ferricyanide.
The English scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel
discovered the procedure in 1842. Though the process was
developed by Herschel, he considered it as mainly a means of
reproducing notes and diagrams, as in blueprints. It was Anna
Atkins who brought this to photography. She created a limited
series of cyanotype books that documented ferns and other
plant life from her extensive seaweed collection. Atkins placed
specimens directly onto coated paper, allowing the action of
light to create a silhouette effect. By using this photogram
process, Anna Atkins is regarded as the first female
photographer.

Anna Atkins

She was born in' Tonbridge, Kent, England in
1799. Her mother Hester Anne "didn't recover
from the effects of childbirth " and died in 1800.
Anna became close to her father John George
Children, who was a scientist of many interests;
for example, he was honoured by having the
mineral childrenite and the Children's python,
Antaresia childreni, named after him. She
"received an unusually scientific education for a
woman of her time."Her detailed engravings of
shells were used to illustrate her father's
translation of Lamarck's Genera of Shells, which
was published in 1823.
She married John Pelly Atkins in 1825, and they
moved to Halstead Place, the Atkins family home
in Sevenoaks, Kent. She then pursued her
interests in botany, for example by collecting
dried plants. These were probably used as
photograms later. John George Children and John
Pelly Atkins were friends of William Henry Fox
Talbot. Anna Atkins learned directly from Talbot
about two of his inventions related to
photography: the "photogenic drawing" technique
(in which an object is placed on light-sensitized
paper which is exposed to the sun to produce an
image) and calotypes. Atkins was known to have
had access to a camera by 1841.. Some sources
claim that Atkins was the first female
photographer.Other sources name Constance
Talbot, the wife of William Fox Talbot, as the first
female photographer.. As no camera-based
photographs by Anna Atkins. Or any photographs
by Constance Talbot survive, the issue may never
be resolved.

Sir John Herschel
Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st
Baronet, KH, FRS (7 March 1792 11
May 1871) was an English
mathematician, astronomer, chemist,
inventor, and experimental
photographer, who in some years also
did valuable botanical work. He was the
son of Mary Baldwin and astronomer
William Herschel and the father of
twelve children.
Herschel originated the use of the Julian
day system in astronomy. He named
seven moons of Saturn and four moons
of Uranus. He made many contributions
to the science of photography, and
investigated colour blindness and the
chemical power of ultraviolet rays.

The process: Part 1.
We first got a mixture
of ferric ammmium
citrate and potassium
ferricyanide, and
coated a piece of paper
with it.
We then used a
hair dryer to dry
out the piece of
paper.
The Process: Part 2.
The process: Part 3.
Then we placed the
piece of paper in a
picture frame and placed
objects on top of the
piece of paper. Then we
leave it out in the sun
for 5 to 10 minutes.

The process: Part 4
Then we take them out of
the frame, place it in
water, wash out the yellow
and then dunk them in
hydrogen peroxide to
make them a dark blue.
And it should look like
this.
My Cyanotype
This was 3
rd

most successful
cyanotype that I
did. I think the
ribbon came out
quite well.
This was the
least successful
cyanotype that I
did. Note to self,
Leave it for
longer outside.
This is my 2
nd

most successful
cyanotype I did. I
think the leaves
cam out really
well.
This was my
most
successful
cyanotype I
did. The lace
came out
great and so
did the
flowers