Cyanotypes

Author(s): NOAH DOELY

Source: The Iowa Review, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Winter 2018/19), pp. 106-110
Published by: University of Iowa
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/45372962
Accessed: 15-12-2022 03:30 UTC

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NOAH DOELY

Cyanotypes

tographic process invented in 1842 by the English scientist and

astronomer Sir John Herschel. I've long been interested in the
The tographic astronomer photographs process Sir John in invented this Herschel. series in are 1842 I've printed by long the been as English cyanotypes: interested scientist a in pho- and the

ways that different forms of photography from different eras mediate

and transform the subject matter they depict - in the case of cyano-
types, how they immerse the viewer in environs of a distinct Prussian
blue. One of my primary interests within this series is the relationship
between color and perception. I'm exploring how the color blue, as
well as the historical connotations of the cyanotype process, subvert,
enhance, camouflage, or otherwise alter how an image's content is
perceived.
The images I create combine straightforward photography, physically
constructed tableaux, and digital manipulation, which I then contact-
print by exposing chemistry-coated paper to light through the inkjet
negatives. I use imagery from an array of time periods, often selecting
subject matter for which color is pivotal. One example is the image
of my recreation of a cyanometer: a device invented in 1789 by Swiss
physicist Horace-Benedict de Saussure used to measure the blueness
of the sky.

106

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