Cyanotype and cameraless photography
An image can arise from contact of an object with a light-sensitive surface.
Key ideas
For a photogram, an object is placed on a light-sensitive surface and exposed. Closed and open areas react differently. Cyanotype is a photographic process based on iron compounds, known for its blue image; This method can be used to print both contact silhouettes and images from the negative.
Looking deeper
Anna Atkins used cyanotype to depict plants. Consider how the botanical image connects the registration of the form and the organization of the page. Not every blueprint is a cyanotype, and not every photogram is made by this process: check the museum description of the technique.
Anna Atkins, sheets from Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Prints.
Find the work in the museum's official catalog and start with a description of the visible details.Place white silhouettes of leaves on blue paper. This is the layout of the composition: compare the density, spacing and readability of the forms.
Useful terms
- Photogram
- An image obtained by exposing a sensitive surface with objects placed on it to light, without a camera.
External educational material or museum catalogue. The above review is not a literal translation of the source.