Garden Party

We've recently had our first Friends of the Cater Museum garden party!

 

Thankfully the weather was perfect for sitting out and chatting away the afternoon, and for our activity - cyanotype photography. Attendees were invited to use leaves and flowers from the garden to create their very own cyanotype photograph.

 

If you're interested in joining the Friends of the Cater Museum you can find out more here.

 

A cyanotype print of a fern. The photographic printing process produces Prussian blue images by exposing coated paper to ultraviolet (UV) light, which then turns a rich blue when washed in water. Where the UV light is blocked (in this case by the fern) the paper remains pale.

 

What is cyanotype photography?

Cyanotype printing is an early form of photography, the process was first discovered in 1842 by Sit John Herschel.

 

Potassium ferricyanide is mixed with ferric ammonium citrate or ferric ammonium oxalate and this photosensative solution is used to coat the paper, fabric, other medium ready for printing. Objects or negative images are placed on the paper which is then exposed to ultraviolet light (either sunlight or artificial light). After exposure the paper is developed by washing in cold, running water. The areas exposed to ultraviolet light develops into a Prussian blue but the areas where the objects or negatives blocked or reduced the ultraviolet exposure develops into a paler blue.