Album cover
Album cover
Album cover
Emily Lee
Cyanotype
John Herschel
Cyanotype is widely regarded as the earliest version of photography. It involves painting a plain surface, such as paper or cloth with a solution of light sensitive chemicals and placing a subject on top. Where the light reaches the cyanotype solution, it browns, but where the subject blocks the light it remains a pale green colour. When washed, the exposed chemical turns a cyan blue - hence the name cyanotype.
The discovery of cyanotype is accredited to an English astronomer by the name of Sir John Herschel in 1842. Herschel believed that science and art were intertwined and thus applied scientific exploration to art and became one of the earliest photographers. However, the original intention of this invention was merely to copy his notes. This process is also used to copy building plans, with the light exposure turning the paper cyan - thus they were named 'blueprints'.
This image is Herschel's first glass plate photograph - a thin glass plate coated in an emulsion of light sensitive silver salts. Herschel discovered that sodium thiosulfate is a solvent of silver nitrate and the resultant solution is light sensitive. By painting this solution onto a surface (in this case, glass plates) he was able to capture images, a process that he named photography (meaning: to draw with light).
In this particular image, we can see the structure of a 40ft telescope which evidences Herschel's background in astronomy. The structure is white with the surrounding area browned. This is known as a negative image - the subject is bleached out with the background in colour and therefore the main focus. After the discovery of the fixing agents by Herschel, creating a negative image via contact printing (also known as photogramming) became easy enough. However, trying to produce a positive image was much harder as it required the subject to be in negative form. Nowadays, we can simply invert images in photoshop and print onto acetate to use in this process, but early photographers did not have this luxury.
Photogenic drawing number 5 by John Herschel - 1842
Robert Rauschenberg
Untitled cyanotype by Robert Rauschengberg - 1951
In the image, Rauschenberg's then wife is posed lying down with limbs and hair splayed, surrounded by abundant flora in varying shapes and sizes. The fairly monotone blues of this image are are result of the technique used: cyanotype. The composition here contrasts the size humanity in comparison to the delicate intricacy of the natural shapes. However, with the stripping of his wife's clothing, Rauschenberg could be insinuating that humanity is capable of being at one with nature, if only we let go of our current narcissistic way of life.
Rauschenberg was an American painter and graphic designer, but also dabbled in photography and print making. In this particular project, he used his wife as a model, getting her to lie naked on large sheets of cyanotype and using a powerful UV lamp to expose the chemical. There is no real foreground or background in this image as it is a contact print (or photogram), i.e. the subject is pressed against the paper the image is created on. However, there are sharper edges visible where the subject is pressed closer to the cyanotype (e.g. some of the leaves) and more blurred edges where the edge of the subject veers away from the sheet.
Primarily an artist, Rauschenberg's approach could be referred to as 'Neo Dadaist' with his work representing a zone he called 'the gap between art and life'. This idea is reminiscent of the question of divergence between art objects and everyday objects initially raised by Dada pioneer Marcel Duchamp. Additionally, Rauschenberg is seen as one of the important forerunners for American Pop art, his 'combines' series bringing together both art materials and urban debris.
I feel that this technique is a good reflection for current photographers to experience the original process of fixing an image to paper. However, nowadays we can be more creative with the way in which we use this incredible concept. For instance, we can print negative images to expose onto cyanotype or we can create our own positives to expose via image transfer using sticky tape. The possibilities are endless and therefore I would like to experiment with this technique to see how creative I can get, and also to see if I can use this process to help me form moral messages to engage viewers.
Rauschenberg's 'Red Painting' series (1953-54) are examples of work that made him an important forerunner to the Pop Art movement. His canvases incorporating various newspapers, fabrics and found objects eventually evolved into series that Rauschenberg titled the 'Combines' which are his most well known works, integrating forms of painting and sculpture.
From "Red paintings" by Robert Rauschenberg - 1953-54
From "Combines" by Robert Rauschenberg - 1954-64
Digital negative
raw
edited
Here, I created a digital negative by inverting and image that I had previously taken in photoshop. I also made the image black and white and adjusted the colour balance in order to create the highest contrast possible as cyanotype does not print colour images, merely blue and whit area in varying shades depending on the strength of the light hitting it.
The inverted image on acetate allowed the UV light to shine through and hit the cyanotype in some places, whilst shading it in there. The result of this was a positive image - a cyanotype of my original photograph.
In this edit, I pulled up the blues of the photogram, making the image more eye-catching. I also boosted the blacks and whites slightly in order to contrast the light and dark areas of the image. Increasing the highlights meant that the white area of the image was more defined and the individual legs were more obvious.
Image transfer
raw
edited
I investigated other ways of producing images to use on cyanotype. In this method, I used sticky tape to cover an image from a magazine. I then placed the image in a bath of warm water which allowed the paper to separate from the sticky tape, leaving the ink of the image on the tape. This created a translucent image that would allow light to shine through in some places, but not in others and therefore be able to create a cyanotype image. However, as I took this image from a magazine as a positive, the resulting cyanotype would be a negative image.
This is the Resulting cyanotype image created by the exposure of my abstract sticky tape, positive image transfer. From the obscurity of the lines in the image, I can see that I did not expose the chemical long enough for the image transfer to have left an imprint on the paper. I will re-attempt creating this particular image in order to produce a clear cyanotype of the design.
raw
edited
For this edit, I used colour balance in order to enhance the blues of the image. This could have been done manually after I had washed the chemical off by placing the wet paper into a tray of dilute hydrogen peroxide (bleach) . However here in photoshop I simply shifted the sliders toward the blue tones.
I also attempted to draw out the faint details of the underexposed cyanotype by increasing the contrast using the histogram of the image. I increase both the blacks and the whites in the image in order to create enough distinction between the two for the details to be seen.
Furthermore, I adjusted the exposure, offset, and gamma correction of the image to darken the blues to try and make the delicate whites stand out against them. Additionally, I used the hue and saturation sliders to alter the shade of the blue in the image in order to make it less obscene.
Despite all of my playing in photoshop, I could not boost the highlights of the image enough to make the composite negative visible. Therefore, I decided to re-attempt the cyanotype completely, exposing it to the sunlight for longer.
This image was much clearer than the previous attempt, though still slightly underexposed. Here we can obviously see the smaller details off the image such as the wings, however we are unable to see the features of the pug on the top of the telephone box.
Here I shifted the colour balance of the cyanotype toward the blue end to accentuate the tones of blue in the image. I had intended to create contrast here to attempt to make the white more clearly stand out against the darker background; however I moved the slider so far toward cyan and changed the hue to the point that the whites became a vibrant turquoise colour. Despite this not being quite the original intention, I quite like this effect as it makes the image more lively.
Additionally, I increased the blacks and the whites and dropped the mid-tones in order to juxtapose the lighter and darker areas of the image to make the composite stand out further. Furthermore, I made use of the exposure, offset, and gamma correction tools to stress the details of the image and make the lines more absolute.
Overall, I am fairly happy with how this image turned out, but I would still like to experiment further in photoshop to see what different things I can do with this contact print.
Here I copied and pasted the same image into a new layer and applied the blending mode 'difference'. This darkened the blues in the image, making them a more purpley brown, leaving the highlights a light yellowey green colour. This makes the image look like a thermograph.
I quite like this effect as it makes the image seem more alive due to the fact that thermographs are used to represent heat signals from living organisms. The greens show areas of high intensity heat and thus create the effect that this abstract object is conscious. Additionally, the darkened edges of the image give it an air of anticipation, as if there is some kind of organism waiting to emerge out of the darkness.
Knolling
blending modes
Knolling is the technique of laying out objects of a common theme in a clinical, rectangular shape for the purpose of organisation. The objects are laid out within 90 degree angles allowing the viewer to see all of the objects individually, yet all together at the same time. The use of a clean cut rectangle for this layout minimises any compositional distraction, forcing the viewer to specifically focus on the objects in the image. It was for this purpose that this process was originally invented - Andrew Kromelow (an employee of Frank Gehry's furniture store) would roam the store after closing, placing all the tools left out at right angles to each other on a work surface. He named this process 'knolling' as it was reminiscent of the clean cut angles in Florence Knoll's furniture.
It is also very often used as an artistic technique to produce aesthetically pleasing images. The objects are laid out into the typical parallel angled composition, and a photograph is taken from directly above. This process is also known as 'overhead photography'. The shape in which the objects are lain out could be used with creative intention if there is one object that is more important/links the rest together in the image the shape could be altered to make this object jut out from the straight edge to draw the viewers eye. Additionally, the shape could be changed to link with the subject of the knolling. For instance, when knolling buttons, threads, and needles, you could place them into the shape of a sewing machine.
Tom Sachs
"James Brown's Hair Products" by Tom Sachs - 2009
Tom Sachs is an artist who worked with Florence Koll in her furniture warehouse where he began experimenting with 'knolling' -originally invented by Andrew Kromelow - using it as a more artistic process.
In this image, Sachs has laid out 'James Brown hair products' in a rectangular format, in accordance with the organisational technique of knolling. Each 'James Brown hair product' is laid on top of a square/rectangular, white metal plate of corresponding size. These plates are then laid out at right angles inside a rectangular box.
The abundance of various colours in the image makes it seem busy, however the use of knolling/overhead photography puts each item in its place, making the initially overwhelming volume of colours appear to be completely under control. Furthermore, the use of a white box give the whole display the feel of a museum /gallery exhibition, making the image overall seem far more clean cut and professional. This continues the original idea of a polished layout created by the use of knolling.
By using a white background, Sachs effectively minimises any distractions form the subject of the image. Additionally, placing a box around the knolling creates a self inclosed arrangement of objects, drawing the viewers' eyes to the centre of the image rather than letting them wander to the edges. I feel that overall, the technique displayed here creates impeccable composition for images despite being primarily used as an organisational technique. The technique is visible frequently in commercial use, aiming to make products more sleek and desirable - for instance, the layout of the Apple store. I appreciate the commercialisation of the technique, however I believe that It could be used more inventively to create more meaningful images. Therefore, I intend to attempt this process, aiming to create knolled pieces with more of a purpose.
Response
I wanted to created some knolled pieces with meaning. Here I decided to do a series of knolling called 'contents of' in which I laid out the constituents of my purse and my pencil case. These are tow things that I use every day and inside both, the components are constantly scrunched together, making it near impossible to see what I have.
I took the chance here to knoll the contents of both my purse and my pencil case. I feel that this was meaningful as they are tow things that most people use every day and due to the design of the containers, the contents of each are never normally all visible at once. Therefore here, I have created an arrangement of objects that are very familiar and yet the composition is slightly alien.
Unfortunately, the five and ten pound notes I used were not in pristine condition, making the knolling in the first image less than satisfying. However, it does have a certain domestic quality in the fact that the majority of the notes we spend are scrunched or crinkled in some way or another, thus the composition becomes more familiar.
Also, as I used only natural lighting for these images, there are many visible shadows disrupting the lines of the objects. I laid out the objects on a sheet of A4 paper on the floor and the light came down from a window up to the side. Due to the size of the room and the time of day, the light was not optimal for taking these images. If I were to repeat this technique for later images, I would use a more refined studio set up with the knolling lit manually from each side and a flash unit on the camera to ensure that the image is lit properly and reduce the shadows.
Here, I inverted the knolled images and made them black and white, creating a set of negatives. I boosted the contrast to pull out the details of the images to try and get as meticulous a cyanotype as possible. Printing the negatives onto acetate, I pressed them against some A4 paper painted with light sensitive chemicals in order to create a positive cyanotype of my original knolling.
Here are my cyanotypes produced using the acetate versions of my images. Unfortunately, due to the low quality of the original image, the edges of the cyanotypes are blurry and even pixelated in some areas. Additionally, there is a solid blue border around each of the compositions due to the size of the acetate being slightly smaller than that of the cyanotype paper. This effect does have its merits though, focusing the viewer's eye toward the central composition, blockading the edges and preventing an attention from being stolen away by distracting details. This effect also replicates the the earlier image by Tom Sachs - 'James Brown Hair Products' - with all of the elements enclosed within a box.
However, the purpose of the shoot was to lay out and liberate the items that we coop up day after day in order to fully appreciate them. Therefore the inclusion of a border around the images contradicts the aim and thus the images are ineffective. In order to achieve a better represented intention, I will in future take into account all the minute details that may seem unimportant, but are actually capable of ruining an image.