*Half a Nymph (in Blue)*
Cyanotype on Brockingford 300gsm HP
Model: Lia
I’m working hard on producing all the prints for the two exhibitions I have planned in late April (Children of Mekong) and mid-May (Blue Lotus Gallery). I did this print of Half a Nymph on Monday night, and I like it a lot. The slight blur in the flowers (because of wind when I shot them) is actually enhanced by the dreamy quality of the cyanotype. I think…
*Fractured Silhouette*
Cyanotype on Bockingford HP 300gsm
Model: Sarah
Lately I have tried to work on my cyanotype frames or lack thereof. Careful coating was not something I worried too much about at first, but I’m a lot more precise now. For two of the three prints that I prepared for the Children of Mekong charity exhibition, I went with « no frames ». I really like the end results on this Fractured Silhouette.
*Striped*
Cyanotype on Bockingford HP 300gsm
Model: Jelle
With my exhibitions at the Children of the Mekong fundraiser and at the Blue Lotus Gallery coming up I have gone back to cyanotype printing, trying to address some of the issues I had. One of these was that my brushtrokes when coating were too regular which occasionally left a faint and unpleasant grid in the light background of the print. I’ve started experimenting with a more chaotic coating pattern, and I have to say I quite like the results.
*Blue Mask*
Cyanotype on Bockingford 300gsm Hot Press
Model: Claudia
Plant Texture: ?
I struggled to transfer this image to cyanotype. The texture in the highlights is so faint that I kept getting prints where the right side of Claudia’s face was near-white. Finally after several attempts, shifting papers and adjusting exposure times I got what I wanted. I find this picture at the same time beautiful and disturbing, especially in this age of masking…
*Blue Caryatids*
Cyanotype on Bockingford 300gsm Hot Press
Model: M.
Plant Texture: ?
Another experiment with double digital negatives reversed. I tryly love how this one came out. the original composition was a bit too lopsided, especially since the texture didn’t come out as strongly as expected in the « empty » side of the frame. The quasi symetry here not only fills in the frame but magnifies the portrait of M.
*Wistful Blues*
Cyanotype on Bockingford 300gsm Hot Press
Model: Lara
Texture: ?
This is a cyanotype of one of my favourite photos of the plant texture double exposure project… that I never showed before. The reason is that while I love the photograph, I always felt it never quite fit with the rest of the project photos. The texture is much more chaotic, and therefore isn’t really legible. But at the same time, it feel like the texture drapes the model, which I love.
*Two-headed blue faun*
Cyanotype on Fabriano Artistico 300gsm, HP, Extra White
Model : Fox
Texture : ?
Technically this is a double exposure of a double exposure. In my early experiments with cyanotypes, I realised that the digital negatives printed at my local printers were not dense enough, so I got two made of each negative so I could superimpose them. Last week I decided to try out some of them in reverse, using both negatives but with one of them flipped. I got some interesting results including this two headed Fox.
*Blue Stripes*
Cyanotype on Fabriano Artistico 300gsm, HP, Extra White
Model : Jelle
Texture : Palm Leaf
Most of the textures I use for this project are one way or another messy. More structured textures can work, but usually only on relatively featureless backs. Here Jelle’s back is the perfect smooth surface for the palm leaf’s details to bloom.
*Blue Arthur*
Cyanotype on Fabriano Artistico 300gsm, HP, Extra White
Arthur Simon is a versatile and talented trumpet player who currently plays with (amongst other things I’m sure) Hakim Hamadouche in a world/jazz kind of blend. The first time I heard him play was as a guest at a CQMD gig, and he ripped it. I really like how the tones of this photo translated to the cyanotype process.
*Blue Bone*
Cyanotype on Fabriano Artistico 300gsm, HP, Extra White
Bigre! is probably my favourite contemporary Big Band. These guys are from Lyon and blend all kinds of influences, not only from jazz but from funk, rock, punk, afro-cuban, chanson française, etc. I saw them live only once, in Paris and it was one of the greatest gigs of my life. This is trombonist Sylvain Thomas doing his thing.
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