What is a cyanotype? Cyanotypes are an alternative photography process invented by the scientist Sir John Herschel in 1842. Solutions of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide are brushed onto paper and dried in the dark. A negative (I make mine using Photoshop, printed onto laser or inkjet film) is then placed onto the paper and the whole thing is exposed to UV light (artificial or natural - the sun) for several minutes. The paper is then washed under running water to produce a "blueprint" image. I usually tint my blue cyanotypes by soaking them in a tray of tea for an hour to produce sepia tones.
FIGHTERS The images above are from my "Fighters" series, which also includes a large oil painting (in the Paintingssection of my Gallery). I have used copyright free photographs of boxers from the late 19th to early 20th century to produce the cyanotypes. I then soaked them in tea, and worked back into them with bleach (to produce pale yellow highlights), coloured pencil, graphite, watercolour, oil and gouache. Even each "raw" cyanotype is unique because of the way the paper is hand-coated with the photographic solutions.
These unique mixed-media cyanotypes are available to buy, plus limited edition Gicleé prints of them. Click on each image above for more info...
Vintage photographs of early 20th Century boxers used for my mixed media cyanotypes