Cyanotypes

Cyanotype is a historic photographic process first used in 1842 by Anna Atkins, who is considered to be the first female photographer. The process begins in the darkroom by coating watercolor paper with a light-sensitive iron salt solution, then exposing it to ultraviolet light (the sun) through a photo negative, causing a chemical reaction that produces a Prussian blue image; once exposed, the paper is washed with water to develop the image, resulting in white areas where the object blocked the light and blue areas where the light reached the paper. Each print is a unique variant, no two are alike.