Untoned Cyanotype

As usual after a pause, back to something 🙂

Simple cyanotypes. Still learning new stuff with the digital post processing. I guess I have understood better how to use the curves now.

Can’t remember the camera I used for the first 3 images. I think this is a 3D printed pinhole, but I can’t be sure. It lacks the usual vignetting of pinhole.

Second picture is printed on sumi-e paper. It works fine with cyanotype and it’s almost like a fabric.

Back to cyanotype

Since there was another hobby which uses too much time, I could not dedicate the time I wanted to photography. Finding the right balance is not always easy and can take some time. Hopefully, this balance has been found and I can enjoy the production of images again. It was never off in my mind, it was just a time issue.

And we can tell a lot of negatives thing about social media, there’s one positive part of it that I don’t want to get rid of. It is the inspiration and the motivation other enthusiasts can give us. It was a simple comment from one of cyanotype make on his process that just trigger the need to go back to the darkroom.

Here’s the result of the first session. Very pleased with the smooth texture and details.

Chiba system

Ok, here we go with a new journey. It is actually a journey that has started many years ago but was paused because of lack of time and so many other things to try out. But when I saw on the chiba system FB group a new method, it was the sparkle to ignite a new cycle in my practice of alternative photography. So instead of using jelly, this guy used fish glue. The main advantage is that is works at room temperature, you don’t need to maintain the solution at 40°C. This really speed up the process, and give pleasant results. I’ll detail the process (based on Charles Guerin‘s document) in another post later on. In the mean time let’s look at the first multi layer picture I managed to get. It is from a 4×5 negative on Canson Montval paper.

New toner

since I bought the book of Annette Golaz I wanted to try some of the plants she has experienced with. Here we go with moringa powder. Actually, I was not completely convinced so I added some yerba mate in smaller quantity compared to usual, and after a first 1h bath in moringa. And we can see that the tannin from moringa were probably exhausted after the first print that went in it as we don’t get the same tones in the last two pictures.

Some cyanotype

Here’s a series of cyanotype from 35mm film scanned, converted to bigger digital neg. No specific subject here. Different time for the toning in yerba mate, I guess I was patient enough for the first one, but I also like very much the metallic blue that a shorter time gives. The street of the first picture is in Beaugeancy, and this is where the workshop of an artist specialized with cyanotype on glass is located 😉

Visit a mosque

Over November and December 2021, city of Massy (France) held a coupe of photo related event. The main course was a two days exhibitions of productions from the local photo club. One of the side event was a visit of the local mosque which had a photo exhibition from Jean-François Noel. Here are a couple of picture I took during this visit. Light condition was not great at all, but with a Rolleiflex, you can shoot at 1/40 and still get something sharp enough.

Happy 2022

A couple of cyanotypes to start the new year (actually made them on Jan 1st).

Some details on the process. Classic cyanotype formula with a 10-10 concentration. Printed on CoqLeRouge paper. Developed with citric acid. Toned with Yerba mate at mild temperature (several hours infusion). Toning times are respectively 7, 10 and 15 minutes. Picture is from scanned 35mm negatives. Digital negative printed on inkjet transparent. Used the generic Christina Z Anderson correction curve. First time using it, and I like it already.